Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

from the yakkety-yak dept

This week, our first place comment on the insightful side is a response to the old claim that copyright is the only way to make money as a creator:

Actually, as many Youtubers have realized when you can connect with your audience, they will support you in making the next work, and this means that copyright is not really needed.

It like most bands do not make their money from copyrighted recordings, but rather from live performances, where their is a live performance tax collected by the performing rights organizations. Copyright is actually costing them money.

In second place, we've got a not-unrelated comment from That One Guy underlining the lie that the copyright lobby represents creators:

Exactly, they don't represent creators, they represent gatekeepers. An open internet helps the first, but it's a serious threat to the second, hence the repeated lies and attacks against it.

For editor's choice on the insightful side, we've got another anonymous reply — this time to the absurd idea that a settlement proves a lawsuit had merit:

A much better question is how many are settled because it is cheaper than hiring a lawyer and proving innocence in court.

Occasionally, a commenter decides to nominate a quote from one of our posts to be a top comment. This week, one such nomination from an anonymous commenter hit third place on the insightful side, so let's go ahead and include it here as our second editor's choice:

my vote for Most Awesomely Good Comment

> and if you're going to be one of those people who pop up in our comments to say something ignorant about how if someone is here illegally they have no rights and should be booted as quickly as possible, go somewhere else to spout your nonsense. Also, seriously: take stock of your own priorities and look deeply at why you are so focused on destroying the lives of people who are almost certainly less well off and less privileged than you are, and who are seeking a better way of life.

- Mike Masnick

Those of you who saw it in the comments probably won't be surprised to learn what our number one winner on the funny side is this week. It's one anonymous commenter's anti-troll version of a rather well-known poem:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary
O'er many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore--
While I, to the subject clinging, facts and judgment all forth-bringing,
Suddenly there came a ringing, ringing at my website door.
"'Tis some dung-laden troll, I muttered, flinging at my website door.
Only this, and nothing more.

Ah, distinctly, he is present, rampant raging and incessant,
Anthropoidish adolescent, pissing in the comment pool.
And each separate post he disses, every fact and reason misses,
Every form of law dismisses, like a madman or a fool.
Every post with rude demeaning, "all the world but he a fool."
Darkness there, both mean and cruel.

And the blighter still is bleating, all our patience still depleting,
New supplies of dung excreting, flinging at my website door.
Never "natural human" writing would so heedless be inciting
Such a meaningless infighting, and in language all abhore,
If his heart were not pure evil, to its stygian inner core:
And his talk--he's just a bore.

In second place, we've got a comment from hij about the silly anti-piracy video in which an cartoon "piece of malware" warns about the dangers of viruses and hackers:

This is why you should not trust malware. Animated or otherwise.

For editor's choice on the funny side, we start out with That One Guy hitting peak sarcasm over the question of what harm is caused by letting works enter the public domain:

What harm? Are you daft? If the filthy public is allowed to get their greasy mitts on Michael Jackson's works what possible reason could he have to create new works? Why would he ever create so much as a tv jingle if he isn't allowed to continue to profit from his works for eternity?

Sure some individuals(who are clearly mentally deranged) might suggest that the fact that he's dead means that no amount of money will incentivize him to create anything ever again, but as this is such an obvious red herring it deserves no attention or rebuttal.

Really now, without copyright why would anyone create anything? As history shows unless people have a guaranteed profit from their works(which of course is the sole purpose of copyright, despite what those filthy socialist commies who claim that the public is the intended beneficiary might say) nothing is or ever will be created.

And finally, we've got an anonymous comment that is in fact rather intriguing — once you realize it's a clever little paradox:

Is Betteridge's Law of Headlines still true? The answer will shock you!

That's all for this week, folks!

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