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Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

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from the kicking-off-the-new-year dept

Sun, Jan 5th 2014 12:00pm — Leigh Beadon

Time for our first batch of comments from 2014! Let's get started. In first place on the insightful side we've got Zem with a nuanced take on the repercussions of the Snowden leaks:

Snowden has shown that it is possible to harm the US Security Machine, without actually harming the US people. This is a more dangerous idea than the information he leaked.

In second place, we've got a response to our sad annual post about the works that should be entering the public domain this year but aren't. One anonymous commenter summed it up in three words:

Take that, culture.

For editor's choice on the insightful side, we start with another anonymous comment, this time underlining the ridiculousness of overfunding the mostly-useless TSA:

It's even worse than you think. We lost 30,000+ in the usa to suicide in 2001. . .ten times the 9/11 casualties.

We lost 30,000+ more to suicide the year after that.

And the year after that.

And the year after that.

And somewhere along the line to today, that became 33,000+, eleven times the 9/11 casualties, and then 36,000+, twelve times the 9/11 casualties. . .per year. . . .

And the Fed funding for the TSA in 2012 was what again, exactly? $7.4 Billion with a 'Carl Sagan B'?

Versus, what, some $68 million for suicide research and outreach?

Something like that?

Mike, when can we move from "cost-benefit analysis failure" all the way down to "basic grade-schooler allowance math failure"?

And next we've got Rikuo, who responded to a false positive in the UK's porn filter with an apt quote from a famous game:

I remember this quote from the PC game "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri"

"As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he deems himself your master."
— Comissioner Pravin Lal, "U.N. Declaration of Rights" (Accompanies completion of the Secret Project "The Planetary Datalinks")

Over on the funny side, first place comes about thanks to a numbers error on our part that seemed to make 10 years disappear from the history of a Canadian copyright collective. After this was pointed out, justok offered a possible explanation for the discrepancy:

Those missing years were lost to piracy

In second place, we've got John Fenderson with some sarcastic input into the Sherlock Holmes copyright debate:

If Sherlock Holmes is in the public domain, then where is the incentive for Arthur Conan Doyle to write new ones?

For editor's choice on the funny side, we head back to the post about the UK porn filter — which was accidentally blocking the website of its own political advocate. Josh in CharlotteNC responded with a spin on an old classic:

First they came for the politicians, and no one cared.
Next they came... oh, wait.
The End.

And finally we've got Jeremy Lyman skillfully leveraging the logic that failing security agencies often use to get more funding:

I haven't stopped any terrorist attacks. I must need more federal funding.

That's all for this week, folks. We're off to a great start for the new year, so keep 'em coming!

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15 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 5 Jan 2014 @ 12:30pm

perhaps

'If Sherlock Holmes is in the public domain, then where is the incentive for Arthur Conan Doyle to write new ones?'

should read

If Sherlock Holmes is in the public domain, then 'how will he now have time to solve all the cases?'
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- Spaceman Spiff (profile), 5 Jan 2014 @ 1:43pm
  
  Re:
  And that should be "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle"! :-) Of course, his friends probably called him "Sir Arthur Conan (The Barbarian) Doyle"!
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  - Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2014 @ 12:17am
    
    Re: Re:
    Nah, they called, him, 'No shit, Sherlock'.
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  - Anonymous, 6 Jan 2014 @ 6:29am
    
    Re: Re:
    Well, at least they didn't call him Conan O'Brien.
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- Anonymous Coward, 5 Jan 2014 @ 4:09pm
  
  Re:
  His incentive? If it makes enough money they'll use necromancy to bring him back to write more.
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ECA (profile), 5 Jan 2014 @ 2:36pm

responce to over funding the TSA..
After loosing 3,000 in the 9/11 circumstance..

we goto war and KILL and lost
1.4 million..

http://antiwar.com/casualties/

Population control the HARD way?
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- Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2014 @ 12:18am
  
  Re: responce to over funding the TSA..
  Which, funnily enough, also explains the vast majority of political discourse.
  
  "No war for me, thanks, I'm powerful and monied now."
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Acksiom (profile), 5 Jan 2014 @ 2:48pm

>For editor's choice on the insightful side, we start with another anonymous comment, this time underlining the ridiculousness of overfunding the mostly-useless TSA. . . .

I am very grateful to have received the Techdirt's Editor's Choice of Most Insightful Comment of 2014. Thank you very much.

Well, technically it is!
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This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

out_of_the_blue, 5 Jan 2014 @ 4:27pm

As usual, the FUNNY here is what you don't see:
and struck me that because Meanie Mike doesn't want grifters to use the awesome value of Techdirt's re-written content to leverage their advertising, that he suppresses SPAM! -- Yes, Mike actually doesn't believe in the synergy of user-generated content, linkage, and that those added links promote Techdirt! When comes to his own interests, Mike doesn't practice his own notions. Mike roots out those making commercial use of his product, right? -- While he advocates that content creators let grifters like Kim Dotcom use their products for advertising revenue! -- I know that the fanboy-trolls won't see the similarity, but it's real. Wouldn't cost Mike anything to let his content be used for free advertising, no more than costs those whose products were on Megaupload, right? Mike would still have his site and all its content -- plus some potential promotion of Techdirt! -- just as the content creators still have their products, right? Oh, sure, you can argue that spam would de-value Techdirt, but that's a potential: Mike hasn't actually got those future revenues... It's QUITE closely similar, kids.

Mike is all for using someone else's content, but doesn't allow just anyone who wishes to use his even though his is just a bit of re-written text.
You've no right to call yourself a pirate if don't even think you're STEALING! Now, ship up or shape out, landlubbers!

12:26:36[n-677-0]
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- Rikuo (profile), 5 Jan 2014 @ 7:27pm
  
  Re: As usual, the FUNNY here is what you don't see:
  Huh. That's a new lie. Mike doesn't allow other people to re-use his content however they like? How long did it take you to make that one up, OOTB? I remember countless comments from Mike where he says to people "Go ahead, repost our content. Copy entire articles if you want. I don't mind"
  
  I'm not even going to bother explaining Mike's reasoning. I know it's a lie. You know it's a lie.
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  - techflaws (profile), 5 Jan 2014 @ 11:54pm
    
    Re: Re: As usual, the FUNNY here is what you don't see:
    Since when has that stopp ankle-biter#1 one from anything? At least he is consistent cause his usually ramblings are also immediately recognizable as such.
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  - Ninja (profile), 6 Jan 2014 @ 1:48am
    
    Re: Re: As usual, the FUNNY here is what you don't see:
    It's some degenerative disorder in his brain. He's getting worse and worse by the day. The best course of action is to ignore him. I'm not even bothering to report, I just skip the comment when I see the nick.
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  - ECA (profile), 6 Jan 2014 @ 10:38am
    
    Re: Re: As usual, the FUNNY here is what you don't see:
    "Mike doesn't allow other people to re-use his content however they like?"
    
    Thats an interesting comment.
    I wonder if we could use those words on toilet paper..
    
    The last pert is IMPORTANT..words have meanings..USE THEM
    
    "HOWEVER THEY LIKE"
    If you repost...DONT CUT AND PASTE. dont take out of context.. easier to LINK to the article and let people follow it and READ..
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  - Alana (profile), 6 Jan 2014 @ 7:59pm
    
    Re: Re: As usual, the FUNNY here is what you don't see:
    By jove! Are you trying to suggest OOTB is a pathological liar? How particularly quaint of you, sir! Preposterous, even!
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Jan 2014 @ 4:48pm

out_of_the_blue just hates it when due process is enforced.
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