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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  • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

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

    Mike's favorite comment

    tl;dr - Mike's a poopyhead.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

  • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

      • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

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

      Re: Freetard FUD.

      Radio, Netflix, Hulu.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • 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 chronology ]

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

      Re:

      You had me at "great Hitler piracy".

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

  • 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 chronology ]

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

      Re:

      have you ever tried adblock?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • 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 chronology ]

        • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

  • 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 chronology ]

  • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

  • 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 chronology ]

  • 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 chronology ]

  • 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 chronology ]

    • 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 chronology ]

  • 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 chronology ]

  • 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 chronology ]


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