Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

from the insights-up-top,-humor-down-below dept

The most insightful comment this week was another clear winner. (Second place was way, way behind.) It was a comment from an Anonymous Coward, in response to the claims from the NSA that Anonymous was somehow likely to target taking down power grids. This AC gave a good reason for that to be unlikely:
Let's go the other way, why would Anon, who uses computers which require power, shut down their power source?
Coming in second was Richard's comment in response to my suggestion that all laws should have a sunset period at which point they need to be reviewed before they could be renewed. As Richard notes, this might have a side benefit:
If it did nothing else this would limit the amount of time available for making new laws!
For editor's choice, we've got Chosen Reject explaining how he deals with the fact that certain "inventors" aren't:
My hobby: Every time someone says "Edison invented..." I mentally replace "invented" with "was somehow involved in patenting".
For the second editor's choice, I'll go with TasMot's comment on the NSA/Anonymous hacking the power grid story, which gets to the real heart of the matter:
Before chasing after the group Anonymous, let's put the idiots in jail that put the On/Off switch for the Power Grid on the Internet. I mean how stupid was that? Does somebody working at the power company need to get on a web page from home and turn off the power grid?

Why doesn't NSA actually look into what parts of the power grid can be accessed from the Internet and go "fix" that? Oh Yeah, I forgot, you can't take away any civil liberties if you do that........ You just fix the problem and move on..... And besides, that would make more sense.
Moving on to funny, we had three comments very closely clumped together at the top... and then there was a huge gap from them to number four. So, rather than leave out that "third" comment, let's just list out all three of those comments. Amusingly, the top-voted funniest comment... is actually a response to the most insightful of the week! Never seen that before. It's also by an Anonymous Coward (though a different one) responding to that claim of Anonymous supposedly not wanting to take down power plants because they'd lose power... and then mimicking the bizarre two sentences we quote from the article about how Anonymous can't take down the power grid, but "experts" feared that if they did then that would increase the likelihood that a power grid would be taken down:
Anonymous doesn't yet have the capability to run computers without a power source, officials say. But if the group's members around the world developed or acquired it, an attack on the power grid would become far more likely, according to cybersecurity experts who spend their time giving stupid quotes for stupid articles.
The next two were both on the story about Techdirt being filtered out for kids in Germany as being harmful to minors. First we had someone going by the name "TD regular guess who" noting:
Yeah, but we just go there for the articles.
Then we had yet another Anonymous Coward explaining:
In other news, Techdirt readership among German youths is up 42%.

Of course, some of those looking for freaky German porn were notably confused.
I will admit that I was really, really tempted to make my editor's choice comment this hater's comment because it really is amazingly funny and gets funnier and more ridiculous the further you read (summary: it argues that I'm a total idiot, and to make my life miserable, this amazing individual might "buy" this blog just to make me suffer -- I should probably just send him our starting price), but I thought that might just be funny to me. So, instead, we'll go with yet another Anonymous Coward comment, explaining how Universal Music withholding millions from Eminem royalties to pay for Eminem's lawsuit against Universal Music made sense:
What's the problem with charging the artist for legal fees you incur defending against lawsuits filed by the artist for not paying the artist?

Lets compare this to a similar situation, to show Universal Music's point.

-Universal Music hires you as an employee paid at the end of each month, with a $120,000 dollars a year salary.

-At the end of the month Universal Music pays you only $4,000 before taxes, not the $10,000 you were expecting, so you sue Universal Music.

-As the lawsuit continues you continue working for Universal music for an entire year, getting paid $4,000 dollars each month

-You win an expensive lawsuit against Universal Music, so Universal Music gives you an accounting statement saying you're owed $72,000 in back salary. But Universal's statement also says it cost them $60,000 to defend against your lawsuit (and that's not counting the $20,000 you spent on your own lawyer in that lawsuit), so Universal writes you a check for $12,000 and calls it even.

You see, perfectly reasonable of Universal Music! It's also a darn convenient way to get around pesky minimum wage laws, thanks to a little bit of creativity. Creativity is good! If we punish Universal Music for their creativity then the artists Universal Music represents won't be motivated to create new music!
And now that we know the secret business model, I'll leave you and get ready for the upcoming week...
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  1. icon
    ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 26 Feb 2012 @ 12:09pm

    nope

    but I thought that might just be funny to me

    No, that one was objectively funny, and I'll ruin anyone who says otherwise!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2012 @ 12:09pm

    Mike's favorite comment

    tl;dr - Mike's a poopyhead.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2012 @ 12:18pm

    I will admit that I was really, really tempted to make my editor's choice comment this hater's comment

    I hadn't seen that originally, so I'm glad you drew more attention to it.

    Count that guy as someone else that has you figured out.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2012 @ 12:22pm

    Freetard FUD.

    You can't compete with free. Name one that made any money competing with piracy.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2012 @ 12:31pm

    Re: Freetard FUD.

    Another week of music industry failures, another week of trolls who don't get the point

    Want to know a perfect service that has competed against piracy and has won more often than not? Steam.

    Not only have they competed, they have been BOOMING in recent times due to the wonderful community, easy to use service they have established, and gigantic library of games they offer.

    What we need is a service like Steam for the music world.


    ...huh, this seems familiar, almost as if a thousand repressed voices who have said the same thing before being eaten by a giant dinosaur fossil.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. icon
    Jay (profile), 26 Feb 2012 @ 12:36pm

    Re: Freetard FUD.

    I'll do you a few better.

    I'll name one company in all four industries that have made money competing against piracy and link to articles proving it:

    Gaming - Valve - "Piracy is a service problem"

    Music - Spotify - "We're an alternative to piracy"

    Movies - Vodo - "Vodo is Netflix-Meets-Kickstarter for Indie Film Fans"

    Publishing - - "How publishers gave Amazon a stick to beat them with"

    By the way, how's that bottled water you have near your desktop? Is it proving worth the price over the free goods you can get at a river?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. icon
    Keith_Emperor_of_Penguins (profile), 26 Feb 2012 @ 12:40pm

    Re: Freetard FUD.

    ummm? well ok, if you insist:

    "An incomplete List Of Free Games (open source, property, CC, and other) (MMO, MMORPG,2D, 3D, FPS, PLATFORM and other)"

    / Escape \
    0 A.D.
    1, 2, 3
    10.5
    1958 BNL
    2029 Online
    4Story
    9Dragons
    9 Empires
    9mm Online
    A Closed Mind
    A Mystical Land
    A Fistful of Cows
    Abuse
    ABOVE v. BELOW
    Ace Online
    Ace of Spades (Minecraft FPS)
    Acwabatics
    AdventureQuest
    Adventure Quest Worlds
    Adventures in the Public Domain
    Advanced Strategic Command
    Age of Armor
    Age of Empires Online
    Age of Ocean
    Afternoon in the House of Secrets
    Aika Online
    Alganon
    Alpha Vertikan Empire
    ALIANTE
    Alien Arena
    Alien Swarm
    Aliems
    Alliance of Valiant Arms
    Allods Online
    Alfredo
    All The Better To See You
    America's Army
    Anarchy Online
    Angels Online
    Anophis
    Anywhere Board Games (ABG)
    APB Reloaded
    ArchLord
    Arenas of Glory
    Armagetron Advanced
    Arenatron
    Art Attack
    ATC Blitz
    ARGO Online
    Asda 2
    Asda Story
    AstroN
    Astro Empires
    AssaultCube
    Atlantica Online
    Attack of the Chasers
    Attack of the Heavenly Bats
    Attack Of The Killer Swarm
    Ah, La Mure
    Aubergine vs. Magenta
    Audition Online
    Aurora Blade
    Awesome Bob! Episode One - Bob Begins
    Avalon Heroes
    Azuga: Age of Chaos
    Babymine
    Baggage
    Ballsy!
    Battle Dawn
    Battle Tanks
    Battle for Wesnoth
    Battle of Destiny
    Battle of the Immortals
    Battlefield Heroes
    Battlefield Play4Free
    BattleForge
    Battlestar Galactica Online
    BB Tanks
    Batheo
    Bang Bang Roguelution
    Barney Mutilator
    Baru Mei
    Bastards of Hell
    Bakugan Dimensions
    Bauerrauser
    Beach Volleyball Online
    BeBees
    Beebash
    Big Building Boom Blues
    Big City Racer
    Big Solitaires 3D
    Betasuppe
    Better Than Anna
    Big Runner
    Bitefight
    Black Prophecy
    Blackshot
    Blackjack (OpenSource)
    Blade Wars
    Blitz 1941
    Bloodline Champions
    Black Desert
    Bots
    Bos Wars
    Bombermaaan
    Braaains
    Brawl Busters
    Bright Shadow
    Brutal Chess
    Business Tycoon Online
    Bug Hunt
    BzFlag
    C21
    Cabal Online
    Caesary
    Carte
    Cafe World
    Captains of Darktide
    CardMon Hero
    Carom3D
    Camelon
    Castle Fight International
    Case White
    Chak's Temple
    Champions Online
    CHAWP!
    Chaos Online
    City of Heroes
    CityVille
    City of Wonder
    Club Penguin
    Clone Wars Adventures
    Cloud Nine
    Cobex
    Colony of War
    Commander Stalin
    Combat Arms
    Company of Heroes Online
    Conquer Online
    Corum Online
    CosmicBreak
    Counter Strike Online
    Craft of Gods
    Crawl
    Crashdrive 3D
    Crazy Tao
    Crazy Gremlins
    Crime City
    CrimeCraft
    Cronous
    Cross Fire
    Crossfire
    Crystal Saga
    Cube
    Cube 2: Sauerbraten
    Cue Online
    Cultures Online
    Cupcake Corner
    Cyber Nations
    DASH-DA-DASH DX
    Dark Deed
    Danger from the Deep
    Damoria
    DX Ball
    DarkOrbit
    Darkeden
    DC Universe Online
    DDTank
    Dead Frontier
    Deco Online
    Deicide Online
    Dekaron
    Destiny Online
    Deepolis
    Die Ewigen
    Digimon Battles
    Digimon Masters Online
    Divine Souls
    Divina (Beta)
    Dracula Cha Cha
    Drakensang Online
    Dragons of Atlantis
    Dragon's Call
    Dragon Nest
    Dragon Oath
    Dragon Raja
    Dragon Saga
    Dragon Sky
    DragonFable
    Dream of Mirror
    Dreamlords
    Drift City
    Drug Wars
    Domain of Heroes
    Domination
    Doppler
    Dogs of the Seas
    Dungeon Crawl
    Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup
    Dungeon Empires
    Dungeon Fighter Online
    Dungeon Party
    Dungeon Runners
    Dungeons & Dragons Online
    Dynasty Warriors Online
    e3.14center
    Earth Eternal
    EDragon
    Eden Eternal
    Elf Online
    Elsword Online
    Emil Chronicle Online
    Empire Craft
    Empire of Sports
    Endless Chaos
    Endless Online
    EpicDuel
    ERepublik
    ERepublik Rising
    Eredan iTCG
    Erebus Travia Reborn
    Escaria
    Esteria Mythos
    Eternal Lands
    Ether Saga Online
    Eudemons Online
    Europe 1400
    Evernight
    EverQuest II
    Evony
    Exteel
    Exoplanet Wars
    Face of Mankind
    Fragoria
    Fairy Story Online
    Fairyland Online
    Fallen Sword
    Farmerama
    Farm Town
    FarmVille
    Fantage
    Fantasy Earth Zero
    Fantasy Tennis
    Fantasy Online
    Fast & Furious
    Faxion Online
    Fiesta Online
    FIFA Online
    FIFA Online 2
    FishVille
    Fists of Fu
    Firemox (Magic:The Gathering)
    Fillets NG
    Florensia
    Flight Of The Amazon Queen
    Flyff: Fly For Fun
    Flobopuyo
    Football Superstars
    Forsaken World
    Forsakia
    Fortune Online
    Free Realms
    FreeCiv
    FreeCol
    Freesky Online
    FreeJack
    FreeStyle Street Basketball
    Frets on Fire
    Frontier: Elite II
    FrontierVille
    Frozen Bubble
    FusionFall
    Garden Gnome Carnage
    Gaia Online
    Galaxy Online
    Gates of Andaron
    Gangs of Crime
    GbRainy
    Genesis A.D
    Generated Affixation: the Nexus Lancinate
    GetAmped 2
    Ghost Online
    GhostX
    Gladiatus
    Gladius 2
    Glchess
    Glest
    Global Agenda
    Glory Kings
    Goal Line Blitz
    GodsWar Online
    GoGo Racer
    Golfstar
    Gnome Mahjongg
    Grand Chase
    Grand Epic Online
    Grand Fantasia
    Great Merchant
    Grepolis
    Gunbound
    GunZ: The Duel
    Habbo
    Hattrick
    Happy Aquarium
    Happy Island
    HEAT Online
    Hedgewars
    Hellblades
    Hellgate
    Hello Kitty Online
    Hero Online
    Hero:108 Online
    Heroes in the Sky
    Heroes of Gaia
    Heroes of Kung Fu
    Heroes of Might and Magic Online
    Heroes of Newerth
    Heroes of Neverwinter
    Heroes of Neverwinter (social)
    Heroes of Three Kingdoms
    Hockey Dash
    Holic Online
    Holy War
    HolyBeast Online
    Hot Dance Party (Steps)
    Hotel City
    Icefighter
    Ikariam
    Immortal King Online
    Imperion
    Imperial Hero
    IMVU
    Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos
    Iris Online
    Iron Grip: Marauders
    Jade Dynasty
    Juggernaut
    Junk Battles
    JX2 Online
    K.O.S. Secret Operations
    K.O. Champs
    Kabod Online
    Kal Online
    Karos Online
    Kart N' Crazy
    Khan Wars
    Kicks Online
    Killzone 3 (coming soon)
    King and Conqueror
    Kings of Chaos
    King of Kings 3
    Kingdom of Loathing
    Kingdom Heroes
    Kingdoms of Camelot
    Kingory
    Kitsu Saga
    Knight Online
    Kogamu
    Kuso Party
    KULTAN
    Kung Fu Panda World
    Land of Chaos Online
    Last Chaos
    LaTale
    Lbreakout2
    League Of Legends
    Legend of Edda
    Legend of Martial Arts
    Legend: Legacy of the Dragons
    Legendary Champions
    Lego Universe
    Littlest Pet Shop Online
    LinCity NG
    Loong: The Power of the Dragon
    Lost Saga
    Lords of Evil
    Lord of Ultima
    Lords Online
    Lucent Heart
    Luminary: Rise of the Goonzu
    Luna Online
    Lunia
    Luvinia Online
    Mabinogi
    Magic The Gathering Tactics
    Magic World Online
    Majesty
    Manic Digger (Minecraft clone)
    Manga Fighter
    Maplestory
    Mars War
    Marvel Super Hero Squad Online
    Martial Empires
    Martial Heroes
    Market Street
    Mafia Wars
    MechQuest
    MechWarrior Online (alpha stage)
    MegaTen
    Mega Mario
    MegaGlest
    Metal Assault
    Metin 2
    MicroVolts
    Millionaire City
    Mini Fighter Online
    Mini01
    Ministry of War
    Mir 2
    Mission Against Terror
    MLB Dugout Heroes
    MG Hockey
    MG Soccer
    Moshi Monsters
    Monato Esprit
    Monster Forest
    Monsterz
    Monkey Quest
    Mu Online
    Mushroom Roulette
    Might and Magic Heroes Kingdoms
    Myst Online: Uru Live
    Myth Angels Online
    Myth War 2 Online
    Mytheon
    Mythos
    Nadirim
    Nanovor Evolution
    Nanofights
    Navy Field
    NEMESIS 2030
    Need for Speed World
    NEO Online
    Neo Steam
    Neopets
    Neosaurs
    NeverBall
    Neverland Online
    NewEden City
    Nexuiz
    Nida Online
    Nightclub City
    NineRift
    Ninja Saga
    Nitronic Rush
    Nitto 1320 Legends
    Nodiatis
    NosTale
    Oil Empire
    Oolite
    Orfeo: a Game in Music
    OGame
    OpenTTD
    OpenArena
    Open City
    Open Sonic
    OpenMarias
    Open LieroX
    Operation 7
    Online Tennis
    OurWorld
    Outer Galaxies
    Osu!
    Owl Country
    Oz World
    Pandora Saga
    Pangya
    Pandimus
    Paradise Life
    Parsec
    PainTown
    Perfect World
    PetSociety
    Pet Forest
    PetPet Park
    PetVille
    Phoenix Dynasty Online (PDO)
    Pi Story
    Pioneers
    Pingus
    Pimp Wars
    Pirates 1709 International
    Pirates of the Burning Sea
    Pirates of Scurvy Pond
    Pirate Galaxy
    Pixie Hollow
    Planet Calypso
    Planeshift
    Planet Crashers
    Pockie Ninja
    PokerTH
    Pokerth
    PopTag!
    Poisonville
    Pouet Chess
    Power Soccer
    Priston Tale
    Prius Online
    Project Blackout
    Project of Planets
    Project Powder
    Puzzle Pirates
    Pysolfc
    Quake Live
    Racing Star: Come On Baby
    Ragnarok Online
    Rakion
    Rangersland International Online
    RAN Online
    RamaCity
    Rappelz
    RayCity 3D
    Ravenwood Fair (SG)
    R.A.M: Saving TPS
    Ri-Li
    Rocket! Waxy's Rocket Party
    Realm of The Mad God
    Realms Online
    Red Cliff
    Red Stone
    Red Eclipse
    Red War
    Regnum Online
    Remnant Knights
    Restaurant City
    Requiem
    Return of Warrior
    RF Online
    Rise of Gods
    Rise of Immortals
    Risk
    Rigs of Rods
    Rockfree
    Roblox
    Robo Smasher
    Rohan Online
    Rose Online
    Ruined Online
    RuneScape
    Rumble Fighter
    Runes of Magic
    Rusty Hearts
    Ryzom (level cap)
    S4 League
    Sacred Seasons
    Sacred Seasons 2
    Saga
    Savage 2
    Samurai Railroad Mansion
    Shit Bit
    SkullPogo
    Skywire
    Skylancer (in OpenBeta 2012)
    Speed Thrasher
    Subsonic
    Super Human Cannonball
    Super Spike Dislike
    Scarlet Legacy
    Scrabble3D
    Scions of Fate
    Scorched 3D
    Seal Online
    Seafight
    Second Life
    Secondhand Lands
    Secret Builders
    Secret Maryo Chronicles
    Secret of The Solstice
    ShadowTale
    Shadow of Legend
    Shaiya
    Sherwood Dungeon
    Shakes and Fidget
    Sho Online
    Shoddy Battle (Pokemon Online)
    Shot Online
    ShowUp
    Silkroad Online
    Silkroad-R
    SigmaStorm 2
    Simutrans
    Slapshot
    Slaves to Armok II: Dwarf Fortress
    Smash Online
    Small Gods
    SMC
    Smoking Aces
    Social City
    Soldier Front
    Soul Master
    Soul of the Ultimate Nation
    Soul Order Online
    Skyrama
    SKAPH.com
    Space Invasion
    Spiral Knights
    SpineWorld
    Splash Fighters
    Speed Dreams
    SpeedSim
    StarCraft II: Starter Edition
    Star Doll
    Star Supremacy
    Star Trek Online
    Star Wars: Battle for Endor
    Step Mania
    Stone Age 2
    Storm Online
    Sudden Attack
    Super Dance Online (SDO)
    Supremacy 1914
    SuperTux
    SuperTux Kart
    Sword 2
    Tales of Fantasy
    Tales of Pirates
    Tales of Pirates 2
    Tales Runner
    Talisman Online
    Tank Ace
    Tanki Online
    Tanoth
    Tantra Online
    TeeWorlds
    Team Fortress 2
    Terminator Salvation Online
    TransForce
    TrackMania Nations Forever
    Travian
    Travians
    Treasure Isle
    Tremulous
    Tribal Wars
    Trickster Online
    The Chosen
    The Chronicles of Spellborn
    The Hunter
    The Legend of Ares
    The Legend of Mir 3
    The Lord of the Rings Online
    The Seventh Dragon
    The Warlords
    The West
    Three Kingdoms
    Three Kingdoms Brawler
    Three Kingdoms:The Battle Begins
    Three Kingdoms Online
    TORCS
    Torn
    Tibia
    Tile World
    Tiger Woods Online
    Troy Online
    Turf Battles
    Tux Racer Extreem
    TuxMath
    Twelve Sky
    Twelve Sky 2
    UberStrike
    Unknown Horizons
    Uncharted Waters Online
    Urban Dead
    Urban Terror
    Urban Rivals
    Upshift StrikeRacer
    UltraStar
    UltraStar Deluxe
    UFO: Alien Invasion
    Valkyrie Sky
    Vanilla Gate
    Venetians
    Vega Strike
    VDrift
    Vindictus
    Vikings of Thule
    Virgo Galaxy
    Voyage Century
    Warzone 2100
    War of 2012
    War Inc.
    War of Angels
    War of Legends
    War of Titans
    War Rock
    Warrior Epic
    Warriors of the Three Kingdoms
    Warsow
    WarStory
    Wakfu
    Water Margin Online
    Wind Slayer
    Wanted
    With Your Destiny (WYD)
    Wizard101
    Wolfteam
    WonderKing
    Wonderland Online
    World of Cars
    World of Warcraft (level cap)
    World of Kung Fu
    World of LordCraft
    World of Tanks
    Wormux
    World Golf Tour
    World Forge
    Woozworld
    Wrath of Heroes
    WW2 Warfare
    XBlaster
    Xiah Rebirth
    Xonotic
    Xhodon
    YoFrankie
    YoVille
    Yu-Gi-Oh! Online
    Yu-Gi-Oh! YVD
    Zaz
    Zentia
    Zero Online
    Zodiac Online
    Zombie Pandemic
    Zoomumba
    zOMG!
    Zone 4: Fight District
    Zoo World
    Zu Online


    Well, no wonder you can't compete with free. With all of those, why would you need to pay?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2012 @ 12:47pm

    Re: Re: Freetard FUD.

    I had totally forgotten about Vodo despite getting lots of FREE LEGAL LEGITIMATE content from it. They had a recent sci-fi shorts torrent awhile back, some of it was a bit odd and not to my taste, but some of it was brilliant.

    As for Steam, I hadn't used it. But with the recent Android Humble Bundle and the games available for Windows through Steam once I made my purchase, I can say I am now a fan. It is indeed a great service. (If there was a Steam equivalent for movies and music, I think a very large majority of people, both pirates and non-pirates, would use it and pay whatever REASONABLE monthly fees associated with it's use).

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2012 @ 1:05pm

    ONCE AGAIN, THE GREAT MIKE SATAN PROVES HIS INTELLECTUAL TECHDIRT BY FLAUNTING THE TAINT OF THE GREAT HITLER PIRACY

    You should be CAREFUL Mike HUSSEIN Masnick because I'M a BIGWIG at several MAJOR SILICON VALLEY INVESTMENT FIRMS. Me and the BOYS down at the SILICON VALLEY YACHTING CLUB were just TALKING about IMPORTANT issues such as OPINION BLOGS DEVOTED TO TECHNOLOGY.

    And as I was SIPPING my CAVIAR from my GOLD-PLATED WINEGLASS, curly mustache and large jet-black top-hat punctuating the MONOCLE that I wear at my LEFT-EYE. I happened to CASUALLY MENTION HOW THEY SHOULD AVOID A RAPSCALLION SUCH AS YOURSELF and not SHOWER you with GOLDS AND RICHES that our kind is constantly donating to troubled technology blogs. I believe it went something like this:

    "Why kind sir, I have the most stunning news story from this blogatory site known as the technology filth"

    "You are in ill-faith kind sir! the blogatation site known as techdirt is a folly run by an absolute FLIBBERTIGIBBET known as Michael Hussein Masnick. Here is a SAMPLE of his site that I have had HAND-WRITTEN by my team of internet-scouring monks which I use in place of an ELECTRONIC DEVICE. As you can SEE, there are many ANONYMOUS PEOPLE who criticize him primarily with swear words. Clearly not the behavior of a well-groomed community of an internet establishment"

    AND NOW YOUR DAINTY NAME IS TAINTED ALL THROUGHOUT THE TECH-WORLD. YOU HAVE BEEN UNDONE MIKE MASNICK. YOU WILL NEVER BE SHOWERED WITH CHECKS AFTER THE HEARTY LAUGH ME AND MY KIND HAD AT YOUR EXPENSE.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2012 @ 1:10pm

    Long time reader, but the autorun video full browser screen advertisements suck.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. icon
    surfer (profile), 26 Feb 2012 @ 1:58pm

    Re:

    have you ever tried adblock?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    izzitme101, 26 Feb 2012 @ 2:39pm

    compete against free

    Ill give you 3 big ones.

    IBM
    Red Hat
    and the company formerly known as Sun.

    Indeed, they even pay/paid their programmers to write code to give away..

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. icon
    Suja (profile), 26 Feb 2012 @ 2:39pm

    Re:

    You had me at "great Hitler piracy".

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2012 @ 3:15pm

    Re: Re:

    but ad-blocking is piracy is theft
    and just because some people use such technology (about 14% of users)
    “That doesn’t mean that we should make the use of ad-blockers socially acceptable”

    At least according to James Cridlands personal and now ad-free blog as highlighted by Andrew Dubber earlier
    http://james.cridland.net/blog/piracy-and-ad-blockers-are-both-theft/

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. icon
    harbingerofdoom (profile), 26 Feb 2012 @ 3:17pm

    never cease to wonder how people that cant remember the difference between here and hear, their and they're, your and you're continue to think that anyone is going to pay attention to anything they say....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2012 @ 3:45pm

    "...why would Anon, which uses computers that require power, shut down their power source?".
    Maybe they're planning to use computers that can run on a 9-volt battery like that kid in "Explorers" had.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. icon
    TtfnJohn (profile), 26 Feb 2012 @ 3:46pm

    Re:

    Gotta love all the block caps, bolding and the mere grinning and chuckling before the second paragraph.

    If there's a better outraged AC parody this site has ever seen I haven't come across it yet.

    9.9/10

    The first candidate for funniest post of the week for next Sunday!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2012 @ 3:47pm

    Re: Freetard FUD.

    Red Hat(half a billion dollar company), Arduino(million dollar company), MakerBot, MySQL, Apache, Blender(3D software).

    I mean they all give their product for free, others can copy, modify it and make anything out of it and don't need to pay for it and still they make money how is that possible?

    Cooperation not exclusion is the key, they give something for free and get a lot of people working to help them create a market and the bigger that market becomes the more they make money selling services and goods to others.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. icon
    MahaliaShere (profile), 26 Feb 2012 @ 4:23pm

    Re: Re:

    Agreed. I'm just glad I wasn't drinking anything at the time of reading it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. icon
    Chargone (profile), 26 Feb 2012 @ 4:40pm

    Re: nope

    large parts of that thread managed to be both hilarious and rage inducing at the same time :-S

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. icon
    Chargone (profile), 26 Feb 2012 @ 4:44pm

    Re:

    its and it's is entirely understandable to the point where even a lot of grammar nazi type people have just given up and don't even care anymore.

    (seriously, according to the 'rules' they should both be 'it's' anyway. stupid exceptions...)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. icon
    Chargone (profile), 26 Feb 2012 @ 4:45pm

    Re: Re:

    ...that sentence was supposed to contain 'on the other hand' at some point, i'm sure of it...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. icon
    Chargone (profile), 26 Feb 2012 @ 4:46pm

    Re:

    ya know, that's probably entirely doable, but the battery life would SUCK.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  24. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2012 @ 6:09pm

    Re:

    Surely, it should be,
    can not or can't rather than cant, but then whose going to be gauche enough to make an issue of it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  25. identicon
    Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 26 Feb 2012 @ 6:17pm

    If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?

    In a science-fiction anthology of yore called Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison, wot I read in my younger days, there was a story, set in a future where the human race was inhabiting hundreds of planets, all happily coexisting with one another—except one. By common consent, it seems, this one world was ostracized, its inhabitants persecuted whenever they tried to venture onto other worlds. And all because of a certain, ahem, “lifestyle choice” that they made.

    The result of this choice was (in the story) a dramatic reduction in their health problems, both physical and mental. They were happier and less stressed than people elsewhere. Their families got along better. Yet in spite of all these well-established facts (in the story), the very mention of their name could cause inhabitants of other worlds to puke in disgust and recoil in horror.

    And so it is, I think, with the very mention of the idea that the world would be better off without patents and copyrights. Or that illegality of most psychoactive substances does more harm than the substances themselves. Or that people don’t really need to run around with guns all the time. The overwhelming—and increasing—weight of evidence that these facts are so counts for nothing; that our lives would be simpler and happier, businesses would prosper, ordinary people would have less to worry about, counts for naught against the overwhelming, visceral conviction that, that is how things have always been, that is how they always must be, and anybody who says different must ipso facto have something seriously wrong with them.

    Thankfully non-violent resistance tends to have a happier history than violent uprising. We’ll win them over eventually, because they cannot erase the fact that we exist.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  26. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2012 @ 9:26pm

    "YouTube Identifies Birdsong As Copyrighted Music"

    http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/02/26/2141246/youtube-identifies-birdsong-as-copyrighted- music

    One interesting comment

    "The *PROBLEM* is that Rumblefish is claiming copyright on other people's work. That's completely unacceptable--it's piracy. And that's what needs to be stopped."

    Posted by im_thatoneguy

    But will Rumblefish get slammed for potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars for an act worse than infringement? Of course not, they get the high court treatment.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  27. icon
    JMT (profile), 26 Feb 2012 @ 10:36pm

    Re:

    Count that guy as someone we've figured out. Do you think acting like an asshole on the internet is going to increase sales of your music/product or decrease them? Whether you're right or wrong, that kind of braindead behaviour only drives paying customers and fans away. It never attracts more.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  28. icon
    techflaws.org (profile), 27 Feb 2012 @ 12:58am

    Re: Freetard FUD.

    Radio, Netflix, Hulu.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  29. icon
    That Anonymous Coward (profile), 27 Feb 2012 @ 4:01am

    Re:

    Describing yourself as looking like the LulzSec Avatar prolly won't end very pretty for you.

    Keep your eyes open for the Louise Boat on the horizon and pray you can escape...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  30. icon
    That Anonymous Coward (profile), 27 Feb 2012 @ 4:04am

    Re:

    Just as soon as the birds get a lawyer, PR Firm, and a Lobbyist to grease the wheels to make sure that copyfraud gets the same life time prison sentences people get for posting links to an episode of House that you missed.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  31. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2012 @ 4:05am

    Re:

    Believability: 5
    Funny: 10

    That is a great piece of humor there, yay!

    :)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  32. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2012 @ 4:08am

    Re:

    Ghostery(firefox), adblock(firefox), adblock plus(chrome), noscript(firefox), scriptno(chrome).

    They all can do something about it, you got the power, now will you use it?

    userscripts.org also can help, but you should ask someone who knows how to read the code first if it is good or not.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  33. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2012 @ 10:21am

    "Let's go the other way, why would Anon, who uses computers which require power, shut down their power source?"

    Hey, that was me. Its nice to know that at least for tonight, they like me, they really like me.

    Hopefully since I was the clear winner, the media will not start hounding me.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  34. identicon
    izzitme101, 27 Feb 2012 @ 10:24am

    Anyways, my last comment didnt sound right, it should read:
    IBM
    Red Hat
    The troll formerly known as Sun.


    I feel much better now i clarified that.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  35. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2012 @ 10:39am

    Re:

    What's really funny is that the only way to tell the difference between this and the actual troll is the use of caps and the noticeably improved grammar.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  36. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2012 @ 10:41am

    Re: Re:

    Had me at "INTELLECTUAL TECHDIRT."

    link to this | view in thread ]

  37. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2012 @ 2:23pm

    Re:

    Mike has the same middle name as Barack Obama? Who knew?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  38. icon
    MonkeyFracasJr (profile), 27 Feb 2012 @ 2:55pm

    Re: YAY! JOB CREATORS!

    Isn't is wonderful that he is employing people!

    A team of Monks to transcribe the 'series-of-tubes' for his personal consumption.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  39. icon
    surfer (profile), 28 Feb 2012 @ 5:24am

    Re: Re: Re:

    'I do find it difficult to understand why running AdBlock or the like is not frowned upon by otherwise honest people. It’s somehow acceptable to write and use Web2.0 services, yet block the very ads that pay for them. If you run an ad-blocker (on your standard, unmetered, broadband connection) it would seem to me that you’re no different to a petty thief.'

    when you put more ads on your website than you do content... put down the mouse, and back away from the computer.

    forcing me to pay for bandwidth to load your stupid full page ads is extortion, which is worse than theft.

    FTFY

    link to this | view in thread ]

  40. icon
    Josh (profile), 5 Mar 2012 @ 4:13pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    "FLIBBERTIGIBBET"

    link to this | view in thread ]


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