Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

from the last-sunday-of-2012 dept

Sun, Dec 30th 2012 12:00pm — Leigh Beadon

With only three days of posts, and plenty of readers no doubt busy with their holiday plans, it's no surprise that the voting was a little slow this week. But, while there are no record-breakers in terms of numbers, there are still lots of fantastic comments for our last weekly roundup of the year—so let's dive right in.

First up on the Insightful side, we've got an anonymous comment on our post about copyfraudulent notices appearing on CDs, pointing out one of the fundamental clashes between copyright and culture:

Sometimes it feels like if you want to be an artist you have to know the law, but if you want to be a lawyer you don't have to know how art works, how culture works, nope, that would be silly.

Up next we've got another anonymous comment, this time replying to one of our nuttiest trolls on our post about Mark Zuckerberg's sister misunderstanding the Facebook privacy settings. In response to the confusing assertion that "IF Facebook were in any degree an opt-in system, it'd collapse", this anonymous commenter pointed out the obvious:

Here's your "opt-in system", boy...
Don't register on FaceBook.
Problem solved.

The first Editor's Choice is a comment that's interesting, but I'm unsure if it's true or exactly what the specifics are (some cursory Googling finds other mentions of a similar idea, but no concrete source) so I'm hoping someone can shed some light on it. We talk a lot about the history of crazy ~~Boston Strangler~~ VCR regulations in the US, but PaulT brought up an interesting example from the UK:

When VCRs were first introduced in the UK, a number of conditions were legally applied to try and alleviate the studios' concerns. One of these was that anything recorded from a broadcast source should only be kept for a maximum length of time (around 6 months, IIRC) before being erased. Anything kept beyond this time was breaking the law. I'm sure you can guess how many of the general public stuck to that, and the law effectively became ignored once authorities realised how utterly unenforceable it was in any realistic sense.

I'd expect any requirement to get permission from the government before viewing the content you've legally purchased to be met with the same level of compliance.

If Paul or anyone else knows more, please share! For the second Editor's Choice, we head to yesterday's year-end post about innovation, optimism and opportunity. While a lot of great things happened this year, Aaron Wolf was absolutely right to start thinking about how to take the initiative and stop playing defence:

Too bad the best is just stopping attacks
Defeating SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA are marvellous and noteworthy. But this just leaves us where we were. What we did was work hard to stop things from getting much worse. Will 2013 possibly be a year where we actually improve things?

To that question, I offer an wholehearted and optimistic yes!

On the Funny side of things, first place goes to a scathing troll-response on our post about Amazon pulling down a memoir for mentioning Star Wars on the cover. An aforementioned nutty troll was well and truly in the holiday spirit that day, expressing his distaste for just about everything, and there's no denying that the reactively-named out_of_my_mind's reply was satisfying in its ontological brutality:

Having never participated in popular culture, nor engaged with 'friends' (whatever they are) in make-believe play, nor loved, nor even hated, my consciousness is informed only by the shadowy archetypes that bubble up through the sub-conscious, where there is no light or mercy, only aching hungers and red appetites. I exist, because I have never made a misstep. Because I exist, I am perfect. Because I am perfect, I am Troll.

Or, as it says on the gates of Troll University, Non Cogito, Ergo Fuck You.

For second place, we return to our post about incorrect copyright warnings on CDs. One commenter was confused by the British terminology at play, specifically "hiring" a CD. While I replied the boring way by explaining that it means "renting" a CD, an anonymous commenter offered a more creative definition for the term:

Having the white album mow your lawn for pay

For Editor's Choice, we'll start with a comment on our post about a White House petition asking for the arrest of journalist David Gregory. That post also mentioned another petition calling for the deportation of Piers Morgan, which caused Planespotter to quite rightfully panic a bit:

Dear America,

Please, Please, Please, Please, Please DO NOT deport Piers Morgan back to the UK.

Regards,

The Population of the United Kingdom.

(As a Canadian, that's a tough choice. When he's American we share the world's longest border, but when he's a Brit we share a Head of State. Both are too close for comfort.)

And, finally, we've got a comment on our post about the ridiculous class-action lawsuit against Instagram for its TOS changes. Michael hatched a brilliant plan, but got tangled in his own web (I swear that's not a mixed metaphor—spiders lay eggs):

I'm trying to build up a class action lawsuit against TechDirt for libel against lawyers that file class action lawsuits for calling their actions a 'shakedown'.

My only problem so far is that the greedy bastards that make up the class do not seem to want me to be taking 70% of any winnings.

It's like they just don't understand that I am trying to help them.

Well, that's it for today—but not quite it for 2012! Tomorrow we'll be back with our funniest and most insightful comments of the year (and members with the Crystal Ball Plus can get an early peek right now). After that, we'll be off for New Year's Day, then everything goes back to normal on Wednesday.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

34 Comments

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DOlz, 30 Dec 2012 @ 2:55pm

"After that, we'll be off for New Year's Day, then everything goes back to normal on Wednesday."

NORMAL?!?!? I don't come to Techdirt for normal.
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vegetaman (profile), 30 Dec 2012 @ 3:01pm

To be fair, David Gregory waving around an illegal object (a gun magazine) on national TV was a pretty stupid way to make a point. Something that most of the rest of us would have gotten arrested for, no doubt. I'm not sure that breaking the law to make a point that something should be illegal makes any sense. I think most people are complaining about the appearance of a double standard. The same way people feel slighted when corporations get off with "fines" for stuff that most of us would spend life (or worse) in prison for. Trying to play devil's advocate here -- be either side right or wrong, it's not hard to see the point people are making here. The petition is pretty stupid, though.

Also, someone should remind Piers Morgan that Freedom of Speech is not Freedom of Consequences from saying stupid shit.
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- vegetaman (profile), 30 Dec 2012 @ 3:02pm
  
  Re:
  *freedom FROM consequences for saying stupid shut
  
  We really need an edit button. D:
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - VMax, 30 Dec 2012 @ 9:26pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Um, maybe an edit the edit button?
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - vegetaman (profile), 31 Dec 2012 @ 12:20pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Damn it, I said "shut" didn't I.
      
      Bloody hell.
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- Anonymous Coward, 30 Dec 2012 @ 8:58pm
  
  Re:
  Here is the test for stupidity.
  
  Would you say it was stupid if it was a gay person, jew, chink, negro, towel head or any of the other many subgroups that people discriminate against flaunting the law on national television to prove a point?
  
  If you think his believes are stupid you should hold on to that feeling, because that is exactly what others will feel when they are opposing your views.
  
  I would attack his believes not the act of trying to defend his beliefs in public.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 31 Dec 2012 @ 12:14am
  
  Re:
  "Also, someone should remind Piers Morgan that Freedom of Speech is not Freedom of Consequences from saying stupid shit."
  
  I'm not a big fan of Piers Morgan, but for once it sounded like sensible shit to me.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 31 Dec 2012 @ 5:28am
    
    Re: Re:
    It's Piers Morgan. Whenever he opens his mouth, it's stupid shit.
    
    Even if (first sign of the Apocalypse) there's a salient point to the stupid shit he's saying.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Dec 2012 @ 3:22pm

Happy sharing in 2013 everyone!
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That Anonymous Coward (profile), 30 Dec 2012 @ 3:56pm

I am the Google Ninja...
28 day limit in UK.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/part/I/chapter/III/crossheading/miscellaneous-broad casts-and-cable-programmes/enacted

68. Incidental recording for purposes of broadcast or cable programme
3. That licence is subject to the condition that the recording, film, photograph or copy in question�
b. shall be destroyed within 28 days of being first used for broadcasting the work or, as the case may be, including it in a cable programme service.

But then there is section 70

70. Recording for purposes of time-shifting
The making for private and domestic use of a recording of a broadcast or cable programme solely for the purpose of enabling it to be viewed or listened to at a more convenient time does not infringe any copyright in the broadcast or cable programme or in any work included in it.

And they evern have laws covering PHOTOGRAPHS taken of broadcasts... *boggle*
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- jerryb (profile), 30 Dec 2012 @ 9:41pm
  
  Re: I am the Google Ninja...
  I wonder how they apply that to recording a repeat showinf from, say, a couple of months ago?
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- Richard (profile), 31 Dec 2012 @ 2:23am
  
  Re: I am the Google Ninja...
  . shall be destroyed within 28 days of being first used for broadcasting the work or, as the case may be, including it in a cable programme service.
  
  and yet the BBC is desperately searching for things that it has lost the master tapes of - in the hope that someone else broke these laws and hung on to a recording...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 31 Dec 2012 @ 5:29am
    
    Re: Re: I am the Google Ninja...
    Hey, the BBC, for the most part, didn't really bother with PP laws in the UK. You can blame Sony, Columbia et al for that.
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Gnudist, 30 Dec 2012 @ 4:07pm

I got a funny award? At last you recognize my greatness

/don't always bother with the username
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Dec 2012 @ 10:46pm

In Australia, if we record something, after one listen/viewing we're supposed to delete the contents. I was reminded of this after reading about the U.K. VCR thing in this post.

Just a dumb law the country ignores. The reason I remember this is because the country had a collective guffaw about the whole thing, it was so ridiculous.
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out_of_the_blue, 31 Dec 2012 @ 5:58am

At last I'm on the front page of Techdirt!
You kids truly have nothing but ad-hominem attacks. You revel in it, and even revel in making Techdirt toxic by putting it up on your front page. That's Techdirt! A little clique of "Insiders" who band round a mistaken guru.

@
In response to the confusing assertion that "IF Facebook were in any degree an opt-in system, it'd collapse", this anonymous commenter pointed out the obvious:

Here's your "opt-in system", boy...
Don't register on FaceBook.
Problem solved.
------------

NO, it isn't solved. Facebook is becoming de facto log-in credentials to even comment on sites, employers want to see your page and have your log-in credentials too; it won't quit bombarding me (or you, silly) with targeted advertising; and it's only going to grow. In short, the goal is to make it so you can't opt-out of any of the tracking nor snooping. That should be evident to all.

@
On the Funny side of things, first place goes to a scathing troll-response on our post about Amazon pulling down a memoir for mentioning Star Wars on the cover. An aforementioned nutty troll was well and truly in the holiday spirit that day, expressing his distaste for just about everything, and there's no denying that the reactively-named out_of_my_mind's reply was satisfying in its ontological brutality:

Having never participated in popular culture, nor engaged with 'friends' (whatever they are) in make-believe play, nor loved, nor even hated, my consciousness is informed only by the shadowy archetypes that bubble up through the sub-conscious, where there is no light or mercy, only aching hungers and red appetites. I exist, because I have never made a misstep. Because I exist, I am perfect. Because I am perfect, I am Troll.

Or, as it says on the gates of Troll University, Non Cogito, Ergo Fuck You.
---------------

No, I grew up out of Star Wars, kids, (just like the title of the topic book!) and not even because forced to, just an academic turn of mind. And living is serious business once you look at facts. It's you kids who blot out your mind with sports and video games and drugs and alcohol while ignoring how country and world are being taken over by mega-corporations with fascist gov'ts. -- You think "freedom" is ability to pirate someone else's work.

You've got all backwards, kids.

Take a moment for Mike "Streisand Effect" Masnick and click:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
Actual unsolicited testimonial: "Until I read Techdirt.com, I didn't know what shameless self-promotion was!"
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- Anonymous Coward, 31 Dec 2012 @ 7:28am
  
  Re: At last I'm on the front page of Techdirt!
  "You kids truly have nothing but ad-hominem attacks. You revel in it, and even revel in making Techdirt toxic by putting it up on your front page. That's Techdirt! A little clique of "Insiders" who band round a mistaken guru."
  
  Blue, when you constantly refer to others as savages or ankle-biters or Dick Helmet YOU lose all credibility or right to criticize others for ad hom attacks.
  
  Also note that no one made any ad hom attacks. The Funniest/Most Insightful above consist of witty responses made in reply to some ridiculous comments left, some left by you at that.
  
  Don't get all butthurt that you got satired. And if you are all butthurt just remember that you seem to be quite the hypocrite. You can certainly dish it but you can't take it. But don't point your finger at anyone else because when you do there are three more (on your own hand) pointing right back at you.
  
  "NO, it isn't solved. Facebook is becoming de facto log-in credentials to even comment on sites, employers want to see your page and have your log-in credentials too; it won't quit bombarding me (or you, silly) with targeted advertising; and it's only going to grow. In short, the goal is to make it so you can't opt-out of any of the tracking nor snooping. That should be evident to all."
  
  Actually, it is solved. You don't want a Facebook account you don't create one. And Facebook isn't becoming a de facto login. It's a popular login, due to the number of users with Facebook accounts but there are ALWAYS other options and methods to login besides using Facebook. There's Disqus, OpenID (which allows you to use a Google/Yahoo/etc/etc/etc account to login), there's a plethora of others. Facebook is not mandatory. I would know. I hate social network sites and refuse to have any account with any on principle alone. Yet I'm never unable to comment somewhere due to a lack thereof.
  
  "No, I grew up out of Star Wars, kids, (just like the title of the topic book!) and not even because forced to, just an academic turn of mind. And living is serious business once you look at facts. It's you kids who blot out your mind with sports and video games and drugs and alcohol while ignoring how country and world are being taken over by mega-corporations with fascist gov'ts. -- You think "freedom" is ability to pirate someone else's work."
  
  Lol. Oh man, I'm not even going to bother responding to this "gem". But it's hilarious how much you rant about mega corporations while vehemently and annoyingly fighting for them and demanding more be done to protect the entertainment industry. What's even more hilarious is how you think people on this site all pirate things and that that's the only thing they care about. It goes to show just how little you actually comprehend when you read anything. Which is to say you don't comprehend a thing you read at all.
  
  Poor Blue. Such a sad, pathetic little troll.
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- Anonymous Coward, 31 Dec 2012 @ 8:27am
  
  Re: At last I'm on the front page of Techdirt!
  You whine about ad hominems, then proceed to make a whole bunch of them and strut around as though you actually make some contribution to the discussion just by being insulted.
  
  You're an insult to any organism with a functioning brain.
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- Anonymous Coward, 31 Dec 2012 @ 8:29am
  
  Re: At last I'm on the front page of Techdirt!
  "... sports and video games and drugs and alcohol..." You forgot sex. Us kids really like sex. Oh, and reruns of 'Gilligan's Island'. Maryann and Ginger...woof woof!
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- JMT (profile), 31 Dec 2012 @ 3:06pm
  
  Re: At last I'm on the front page of Techdirt!
  "Facebook is becoming de facto log-in credentials to even comment on sites..."
  
  It's far from "de facto", and besides, if a site requires Facebook to comment, I don't comment. It's not that critical in my life that I must comment on every site. But then I'm not a troll like you, so I can see your dilemma.
  
  "...employers want to see your page and have your log-in credentials too..."
  
  They can ask, but I can't give them something that doesn't exist, can I?
  
  "...it won't quit bombarding me (or you, silly) with targeted advertising..."
  
  I get no targeted advertising from Facebook whatsoever. Guess why?
  
  "In short, the goal is to make it so you can't opt-out of any of the tracking nor snooping. That should be evident to all."
  
  You reaslise this dystopian future world of yours would require mandatory Facebook accounts? Do you really see that law being passed any time soon. What is clearly evident to all is how batshit insane you are. If you hate Facebook so much, DONT USE IT!
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Daniel Scheinhaus, 31 Dec 2012 @ 6:13am

Wanting David Gregory removed in some way (nobody says killed or fired anymore. The preference has become vagueness.) or Piers Morgan deported is really a way of saying you can't tolerate that basic requirement of democracy -- disagreement, dispute or even a human reaction of anger at the fact that so many people, including small children, have been killed so that an industry could increase sales of weapons. By the way, I've been thinking of starting a new hobby like collecting mortars or tanks.
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dennis deems (profile), 31 Dec 2012 @ 7:17am

Can we please stop using "Google" as a verb?
When you blow your nose do you say you're "Kleenexing"?
When you play the guitar do you say you're "Fendering"?
When you shop on Amazon do you say you're "Amazoning"?

Modern life is ugly, but language doesn't have to be!
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- Anonymous Coward, 31 Dec 2012 @ 10:16am
  
  Re: Can we please stop using "Google" as a verb?
  Why? Like "Beatle haircut" it's part of the natural evolution of the English language and will soon be added to the Oxford dictionary - more deservedly so than some other recent additions.
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  - dennis deems (profile), 31 Dec 2012 @ 11:50am
    
    Re: Re: Can we please stop using "Google" as a verb?
    In your example, "Beatle" is an adjective that modifies "haircut"; entirely standard usage as far as I can tell.
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- Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) (profile), 31 Dec 2012 @ 10:54am
  
  Re: Can we please stop using "Google" as a verb?
  Alternatives to "Googling":
  "I was online searching..."
  "I did an internet search..."
  "I queried an online database listing..."
  
  Yeah, those sound beautiful. Flows off the tongue as the most eloquent of prose.
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  - dennis deems (profile), 31 Dec 2012 @ 11:43am
    
    Re: Re: Can we please stop using "Google" as a verb?
    "some cursory Googling" is easily replaced by "a cursory search". There's no need to drag Google into it. I don't need to know what search engine you used.
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    - Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) (profile), 31 Dec 2012 @ 12:57pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Can we please stop using "Google" as a verb?
      Yet "a cursory search" means I searched something. What, exactly? My pocket, the yellow pages, the library, the internet? Sure, it can be implied from context but there isn't a quick word for doing a search on the internet, hence modern linguistics turned "world-wide web search" into "google".
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- Mike Brown (profile), 31 Dec 2012 @ 12:36pm
  
  Re: Can we please stop using "Google" as a verb?
  I Yahoo'd the etymology of the verb "to Google." Turns out Merriam-Webster has made "google" official, so to answer your question, no. No, we can't stop.
  
  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/google
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- Anonymous Coward, 31 Dec 2012 @ 3:18pm
  
  Re: Can we please stop using "Google" as a verb?
  So what word is it that dennis deems appropriate?
  
  "dennis deems". Get it?
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  - dennis deems (profile), 2 Jan 2013 @ 7:22am
    
    Re: Re: Can we please stop using "Google" as a verb?
    *rim shot!*
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Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) (profile), 31 Dec 2012 @ 10:56am

A request
You guys should do a Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Year At Techdirt.
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- Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) (profile), 31 Dec 2012 @ 12:59pm
  
  Re: A request
  Stupid lack of patience.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Mike Masnick (profile), 31 Dec 2012 @ 3:04pm
    
    Re: Re: A request
    Not only that, but Leigh even *said* that was coming at the end of this post. :)
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) (profile), 2 Jan 2013 @ 6:15am
      
      Re: Re: Re: A request
      Must have been inception, then. =]
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]