Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

from the rikuo-rolled dept

Sun, Dec 8th 2013 12:00pm — Leigh Beadon

Well, looks like we've got another clear winner this week, with Rikuo taking both Insightful spots and second place for Funny. First up is a reaction to a judge's statement about the government trying to hide information that is already public, where Rikuo saw some synergy with the world of intellectual property:

"If information is publicly available in some other way, the government does not have the right to retroactively clamp it down and remove it from the public record."

Right hands up. Who else here noticed that that describes what should be the situation concerning copyright and copyright term extensions?

Next, Rikuo took second place by pointing out that fearmongering about ever-growing terrorist threats doesn't necessarily send the message that the government wants:

Since the NSA programs have been shown to have been operational for several years, but now apparently the threat of terrorist attacks is higher than ever...wouldn't that point to the NSA programs being completely ineffective?

You don't scream and shout that you must continue your highly controversial program by saying it's actually failed in it's stated mission goal.

For editor's choice on the Insightful side, we start with Chris ODonnell, who proposed a simple and strict remedy for government misbehaviour:

Any government employee who is found to be willfully obstructing justice or willfully violating the constitutional rights of a citizen should be banned from working in the public sector ever again.

(The fact that you can already anticipate some people reacting "well, that's just ridiculous" is telling, and frightening.)

Next up is OldGeezer, who did some quick math to underline just how insane Life-Plus-70-Years is for a copyright term:

Let's do some math. I am 61 and was 12 when I first heard the Beatles. Paul McCartney is 71. Let's assume he lives to 80. (Year 2022). Ringo is only 2 years older so likely at least one of them will be alive at least until then, very possibly much longer. Plus 70 Years (2092). My son is 28. He would have to live to 107 to legally download "I Want to Hold Your Hand". He has no children but let's assume if he just had a child. My grandchild may be able to if he lives to nearly 80. Say he has a child at 25. Much of the music I listened to in my early teens will not be public domain until my great grandchild would be in his mid 50's. AND THAT'S NOT LONG ENOUGH ALREADY?!!! Life plus 70 is an appropriate sentence for a serial child rapist, not for a song copyright.

...And all that assumes that nobody succeeds in further extending copyright sometime in the next century.

Over on the funny side, first place goes to FHuminski, who seems to have tracked down the inspiration for the creepy US spy satellite logo:

Haven't I seen this logo (or one like it) before?

Oh that's right...it was in the 1966 Batman movie...

(The sad part is that the one from Batman actually looks much less menacing.)

In second place, we've got one more win for Rikuo, who heard that the MPAA was told not to say "piracy", "theft" or "stealing" during the Hotfile trial, and mused on the impact such restrictions would have:

Hands up if you expect the MPAA's filings to just be blank pieces of paper now ;)

(That's two winning comments that started with "hands up" — so Rikuo may have found an effective tactic for drawing in more votes.)

For editor's choice on the funny side, we start with crade, who decided that the government's confusion between two unrelated (and very different) Muslim groups deserved the Monty Python treatment:

Are you the Jamaah Islamiyah Malaysia?
Fuck Off!
What?
We're the Jamaah Islah Malaysia! The only people we hate more than the bloody Romans is the Jamaah Islamiyah Malaysia!

Last but not least, we've got a comment that really made me laugh out loud, and another case of synergy between ongoing civil rights issues and ongoing copyright issues. Xenomancer heard the assertion that "the NSA’s mission is of great value to the Nation" and immediately identified an all-too-common error:

There they go confusing price and value again...

That's all for this week!

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22 Comments

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Rikuo (profile), 8 Dec 2013 @ 11:24am

*swoons*
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JMT (profile), 8 Dec 2013 @ 2:27pm

"Since the NSA programs have been shown to have been operational for several years, but now apparently the threat of terrorist attacks is higher than ever...wouldn't that point to the NSA programs being completely ineffective? "

I didn't think of this first time around, but another compelling possibility is that if the threat of terrorist attacks is indeed higher than ever it's because the US has pissed off more people than ever before. Nothing condones terrorism, but lots of things encourage it...
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This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

out_of_the_blue, 8 Dec 2013 @ 4:55pm

As usual, funniest is how out_of_the_blue inspires fake "out_of_the_blue"
With highlight of the week being return to Techdirt's grand pages by the real out_of_the_blue came the return of kids committing fraud by imitating my screen name.

I renew my complaints to Mike The Platform Provider to remove those posts -- easily known false at a glance to his powerful control panel -- because it's a) civil fraud to post under a name to discredit some person, and b) in his interests to do so (or so I presume). But Mike tacitly encourages it without making a single response to my several complaints or directed to any of the false posts, so I must assume that his position is that he has no responsiblity to police such fraud, and no intention of doing so.

Fine. Self-policing forum, then. I'll just have to continue my already successful efforts to improve the forum. The way I do that is to elicit responses that show the true nature of the usual Techdirt fanboys. The fake "out_of_the_blue" is typical: nothing to say on topic, not even caused by my posting, just a mindless contrarian like an ankle-biter dog.
Whenever restraints are taken off, people NEVER become better. Especially not The Rich.

12:53:28[n-810-1] [ This suppresses the kids from fraud of using my screen name. ]
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- Anonymous Coward, 8 Dec 2013 @ 5:10pm
  
  Re: As usual, funniest is how out_of_the_blue inspires fake "out_of_the_blue"
  More words OotB does not understand: highlight, kids, fraud, easily, discredit, encourages, English.
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- That One Guy (profile), 8 Dec 2013 @ 5:21pm
  
  Re: As usual, funniest is how out_of_the_blue inspires fake "out_of_the_blue"
  You should be the last person calling for moderation of posts, given how many of yours would be deleted(though of course while you call for post removal here, you'd be screaming 'CENSORSHIP!' as soon as one of yours was removed).
  
  Also, 'parody', might want to look that up, if someone wants to post using your preferred screen name(something you could have easily kept from happening by signing up for an account. Too late now though...) to make you look even more silly/foolish, despite how much you don't care for it, it's still protected speech.
  
  'nothing to say on topic... just a mindless contrarian like an ankle-biter dog.'
  
  Might want to look in a mirror before throwing such terms out at others...
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- out_of_the_blue, 8 Dec 2013 @ 5:22pm
  
  Re: As usual, funniest is how out_of_the_blue inspires fake "out_of_the_blue"
  I enjoy to commit the civil frauds, and also poop my pants.
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- BeeAitch (profile), 8 Dec 2013 @ 5:37pm
  
  Re: As usual, funniest is how out_of_the_blue inspires fake "out_of_the_blue"
  report: insane babble.
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- This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
  
  Anonymous Coward, 8 Dec 2013 @ 6:53pm
  
  Re:
  out_of_the_blue just hates it when due process is enforced.
  
  Get an account with a username you can log into, you dumb fuck.
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- out_of_my_ass, 8 Dec 2013 @ 11:19pm
  
  Re: As usual, funniest is how out_of_the_blue inspires fake "out_of_the_blue"
  The only thing I get from your posts is what time zone you live in.
  
  Obviously on GMT right? So I assume you are posting from the UK, probably a troll from the BPI.
  
  Also your parents must suck if your name is actually out of the blue.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 9 Dec 2013 @ 11:04am
    
    Re: Re: As usual, funniest is how out_of_the_blue inspires fake "out_of_the_blue"
    it's that old tradition of naming a kid after the circumstances of their conception
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- Anonymous Coward, 9 Dec 2013 @ 8:33am
  
  Re:
  From the looks of things, it appears out_of_the_blue can't stand the enforcement of due process.
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Todd Knarr (profile), 8 Dec 2013 @ 4:55pm

Thought: bring back the old principle of "No person acting as an agent of the government can act in any way that violates the law. For, to the degree that they are violating the law, they are not acting as an agent of the government and may not claim the protections and immunities thereof.".
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BernardoVerda (profile), 8 Dec 2013 @ 9:18pm

Wait -- there's a *bogus* out_of_the_blue?

I guess that makes one more data point, buttressing Poe's Law...
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- out of the blue (bogus), 8 Dec 2013 @ 11:38pm
  
  Re:
  *waves hand" no there is not, this is the real ootb.
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- totally not out of the blue, 15 Dec 2013 @ 7:15pm
  
  Re:
  There's a *non-bogus* out_of_the_blue?
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Dec 2013 @ 11:31pm

Ups and downs.

Here folks I leave you with the less than fifty bucks backyard rollercoaster. It is Christmas after all where magic happens.

we tested it once with a 15 lb cinder block. somehow we figured that was a good test before we threw our 160lb bodies onto it.

From Backyard Rollercoaster

ps: Roll down to the bottom of the page to see the animated gifs of them riding the thing.
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Paul Keating (profile), 9 Dec 2013 @ 2:49am

empty offices
Any government employee who is found to be willfully obstructing justice or willfully violating the constitutional rights of a citizen should be banned from working in the public sector ever again.

If enacted such a law there would soon be no one left to enforce it.......
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- That One Guy (profile), 9 Dec 2013 @ 3:09am
  
  And the downside would be...?
  If they are, through greed, power hunger, or sheer gross negligence/incompetence making things worse, than not having them there at all would seem to be an improvement, there's always more people who would step up to replace them, and maybe having their predecessors kicked out like that would instil a better respect for the law and the people in them.
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relghuar, 9 Dec 2013 @ 4:22am

Hands up ...
... if you wondered whether Rikuo is a teacher! ;-)
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- Rikuo (profile), 9 Dec 2013 @ 4:31am
  
  Re: Hands up ...
  I'm not. However, I would like to be, but I don't see myself ever being in a classroom and conforming to a curriculum. Perhaps private tutor? Who knows...
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  - Rikuo (profile), 9 Dec 2013 @ 4:32am
    
    Re: Re: Hands up ...
    As an aside, I did act in a teaching capacity when I was younger. I taught my kid sister how to read and write, and I remember teaching a kid-oriented extra-curricular computer class (mainly because the adults assigned to it didn't have a clue about computers!)
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  - Anonymous, 9 Dec 2013 @ 2:44pm
    
    Re: Re: Hands up ...
    Private tutor? Sounds like an '80s movie.
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