This Week In Techdirt History: May 5th - 11th
from the chronicled dept
Five Years Ago
This week in 2014, the push for one of two NSA reform bills went somewhat sour as the better bill was watered down so much it got the support of NSA apologists and passed out of the House Judiciary Committee. Meanwhile, the new NSA boss was making extreme understatements about the agency's situation while the former boss (who was also setting up a cybersecurity consulting firm) was defending everything he did. In the UK, at least, parliament finally admitted Snowden's revelations revealed that oversight of the GCHQ was broken.
Ten Years Ago
This week in 2009, anti-Google hysteria reached a fever pitch with comparisons to the Taliban, a grandstanding attorney general was threatening Craigslist's management with criminal charges, and pharma giant Merck was caught having created a fake science journal to praise its products. Some folks were making wild estimates about an unknowable number to support their copyright agenda, claiming the leak of the Wolverine film cost millions at the box office, the RIAA was demonstrating the meaninglessness of its recent promises by continuing to file lawsuits, and we saw the formation of a famous copyright nonsense triangle when Cat Stevens stepped in to say Coldplay copied him, not Joe Satriani. We also took a look at all the ways Italy had been demonstrating a very troubling view of the internet.
Fifteen Years Ago
This week in 2004, while lots of people were grappling with the unresolved legal implications of WiFi, one smart commentator was cluing in to the fact that camera phones provided the public a way to fight back against surveillance by watching the watchers and filming things like, say, police misdeeds. The mess that was (and is) the patent system was getting some mainstream media attention, as was the ongoing failure of record labels to adapt to the internet (them being too busy suing a grandmother who decided to fight back). The Google IPO had everyone excited about the company (enough to start gobbling up every domain name with "Google" in it), while a meaningless but amusing clerical error led to Microsoft patenting a new breed of apple.
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
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Does anyone else find it outrageous that ALL of the non-Fox TV media repeats the same talking points, VERBATIM? We are in a constitutional crisis! Every one of them, echoing Nadler this week in American (and Techdirt) history. It sounds “phoney-baloney” to me, but for those of you here not from America, it means I don’t believe it.
It looks like the mainstream media (outside of Fox) is in “lock step” with the crazies and jealous foreigners, and have been ever since the 2016 election. First trying to make traitors out of the electoral college, then trying to make traitors of Trump’s cabinet, on and on. What was so interesting (this week) were the reports that in fact, there was a LOT of international help in trying to entrap Trump in a scandal. The WHOLE WORLD hates Trump, except for all the people who VOTED FOR HIM! And we have Guns! And Brains! And we’re not afraid to DIE (mostly because we’re already very old, and death does not hold the same terror for the old as the young).
That’s right, and the UK was in on the deal (Wendy) trying to remove a duly elected US president. In fact, a LOT of the foreigners that post on this very forum appear to be part of the conspiracy as well. They NEVER identify themselves as foreigners (which they are) but they go ON and ON about the USA, when in fact, they don’t know jack shit about America or Americans.
I say let’s make anonymous speech illega with a new lawl, and let’s do it THIS WEEK. If you fail to identify yourself, truthfully, in public, for each and every post, then you will be HUNTED DOWN LIKE THE TRAITOR YOU ARE! All you foreigners go first, that’s also in the law.
Who’s with me? Oh wait, no one here is with me. You are all either foreigners, mental patients, paid posers, liars, criminals, thieves or attorneys. The attorneys are the worst of all, of course. THEY SHOULD GO FIRST. Foreign attorneys. You’re UP!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
So…we’re all Prenda Law?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
You know, Stephen, I’ve always liked you. You remind me of myself. Sometimes incisive and brilliant, other times completely off the mark and deranged.
I suppose I could say that about many people on this forum.
Wait, are they all YOU? Are you ME, Mr. Smith? Are you the anti-virus to the virus, or visa-versa?
I think according to the new American law that I expect to soon propose, pass, and get signed by my friend Don, you MUST identify yourself! Or else!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
If you are going to tell a lie, at least make it a plausible one.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Sometimes I like your writing, really, I do. And many times I admire your commitment, you comment on maybe 20 times more articles than I ever comment on. Sometimes I read what you say, and I agree with it, so I don’t say anything. True, no kidding. You’re really good at italics and indentation, too, I have no idea how you do it but many of your comments are formatted very professionally.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Should I pay you for all of this meaningless dick-sucking, or do you do it for free?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Stephen, this article is about this week in history, right? Did you see what Jim Comey’s former attorney at the FBI said this week? Very interesting stuff: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EtwdV0W__rY
What do you think? I think pretty much everyone in America knows that the news media is being programmed by liars, leakers and Democrats in the Deep State. Their coverage is just too uniform, even their phrases appear in unison, like a chorus, every day. They are all mouthing the same talking points, at the same time, in the same way. It’s so obvious that they are colluding with each other and with traitorous criminals like Comey, Brennan and Clapper. Do you see it the same way/
Maybe you could select some of my text above, italicize it, indent it, and provide some of your world renowned wisdom.
Has Trump totally OUTED the deep state? Are they going to PRISON, just like the Black Conservative Patriot says?
By the way, do you like the Black Conservative Patriot? I enjoy his stuff, he copies from a lot of shows, MSNBC, FOX and others, and then provides commentary. Do you think this is legal? Is it covered by Fair Use?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Buddy... with all due respect (which is none) fuck off with this garbage.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
Well, maybe you don’t agree with me, but Stephen T. Stone clearly agrees with me.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Hi, John Smith.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Mainstream Troll
It looks like the mainstream media (outside of Fox) is in “lock step” with the crazies and jealous foreigners
That is the very definition of a paranoid rant. "Everyone" except Faux and Infowars is telling you are wrong.
El Cheetoes is an adulterer and a liar. I never get tired of fact-checking his statements against multiple sources.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Mainstream Troll
You want to condemn an American President for being an adulterer? In the past, before he got to the White House? How fucking stupid are you, foreigner scum?
Let me explain something to you - John F. Kennedy is perhaps the most beloved American president of all time. He de-flowered virgins in the White House just for fun, while married to one of the classiest women of all time.
Understand, idiot boy who knows NOTHING about History or America?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Mainstream Troll
Yes, I want to call the sitting president scum because he cheated on his pregnents wife - whire screaming about gamily values. And lies - conformed lies - every times he steps up. Lies while his gullible followers scream about "Fake News."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Mainstream Troll
Oh, I understand, you are not only an educated foreigner, you are an educated man (if you are a man at all). And then, you want to preach morality to American Voters. You want to say because you are offended by something you don’t understand at all (someone else’s personal life) you want to reverse an American Election, based on your feelings.
Have you ever had a pregnant wife? I doubt it. Otherwise you would be more forgiving of a man being a man.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Mainstream Troll
Well, at least Trump didn’t pull out his penis — “the demon rod,” as St. Augustine called it, in a nice turn of phrase — and show it to us, which is what Lyndon Johnson did when journalists asked him why America was in Vietnam. “That’s why,” Johnson reportedly said.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Mainstream Troll
Wow, "Didn't wave his dick" is the best can to say about El Cheetos. GG.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Mainstream Troll
Preach on, oh leftist morality instructor. Tell us how good you are, how noble, how your sexual antics are only proper and politically correct. We want to hear you teach us what is right and what is wrong about sexual behavior. You are obviously an authority, being a leftist.
But you are OK it’s ass fucking gays smearing shit all over themselves like Stephen T. Stone, right? And you are OK it’s Chelsea Manning betraying her country and mutilitating her body to experience sick disgusting fantasies that make Trump look TOTALLY normal and law abiding , right?
You are ridiculous.
God Bless Donald J. Trump, the Magnificient. Long may he reign. And then his son, or daughter, and then Baron! yay - we already love Baron! you want to say something bad about him too, you disgusting leftist piece of preaching shit?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Mainstream Troll
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Nah he just raw dogged a pornstar while his wife was pregnant. It’s better than Newt “I’m an adulterer while my wife is dying of brain cancer” Gingrich, I’ll admit. But the real point which you have conveniently missed is you done lost the moral high ground with Trump.
And then there’s transhamilton who think being a fransexual should be a federally protected right. He’s off his meds, an inferiority complex the size of the US presidents ego, a penis as small as the previous, and an insatiable urge to be made fun of by his betters. Not to mention being a garden variety misogynist, racist, xenophobe, and all around loser. He is as dreary a cunt as the day is long inside the Arctic Circle in summer.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
You want to talk about “moral high ground” while the owner of this site publicly accepts awards on stage with Chelsea Manning, a convicted traitor to both her country and her gender?
Moral high ground?
Are you kidding?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Can’t help but notice you didn’t deny anything
Yeah sonny I do. Your hero is a scumbag and you want to fuck his wife. So not only do you support adulterers you want to be one as well. You may be mentally ill, but you are still competent enough to know right from wrong on a base level.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
And he sucks at writing, too.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Better than the dick sucking that you advocate.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sounds like someone hates oral sex.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Yes, oral sex with a man is an act I have never performed, and never expect to. The fact that it seems disgusting to me makes it it especially pleasurable to watch my wife do it. Every normal man understands that, right? Right?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
…you watch your wife blow other men?
But hey, I have no right to kinkshame cuckolding. You do you while your wife does him.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
It's amusing how the above comment is, in every claim, the mirror-opposite of how things actually are in the real world
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Baron! yay - we already love Baron! you want to say something bad about him too
You were the one dragging minors into this. Please tell us more about your love of Baron?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Thank you for confirming your sick twisted disgusting frame of mind. You are not fit to be a preacher of morality, Wendy. You are a UK Lesbian separatist president of the Pirate Party.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: You have to take the pills *everyday*
Bro I know you’re mentally ill and also an idiot. But that’s not Wendy...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: You have to take the pills *everyday*
I'm Wendy, much maligned administrator and regular commenter on TD using my real name because I'm not afraid to stand by my comments.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Thank you for confirming your sick twisted disgusting frame of mind.
Agreed - it is GOOD to do some porn stars while your wife is preggers, and then have your trusted lawyer pay off the witnesses with campaign funds. What was I thinking? Those are the hallmarks of a Fine Person, and a Stable Con Artist.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
And you being a trans-sexual pervert, that’s ironic, no?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
You don’t listen so well bro. Or can you not hear us through the cacophony of voices already resident inside your broken lil brain?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Tell us who meets your per verted standards. Chelsea Manning?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
For someone who implies that someone being transgender is a bad thing, you sure do talk a lot about a specific transgender woman. If you are as sexually attracted to her as your obsessive posts imply, know that there is no shame in admitting it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Yes, I imply that trans-gender is full on weird, strange, abnormal, unusual, unadvisable and for people like you, unavoidable, weirdo.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
I imply that trans-gender
Yes, not good like pussy grabbing. el Cheetos is best pussy grabber!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
Only someone perverted would think that a man grabbing a lady by the pussy would be anything but normal, when expressed in the spoken word, and invited warmly by the lady.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Funny how you had to qualify the genital groping as expressly and enthusiastically consensual, as opposed to the kind done with a “what are you gonna do about it” type of pressure applied to the act (which Trump at least implied to have done himself).
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
It's fun that you say the last bit, since it's the implied lack of consent part people object to, not the actual grabbing, in Trump's famous quote.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
It's the pretzel logic they cling to, to claim only a pervert would think it's bad to walk up to a women and grab her.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
I'm amused as hell to think that one of them is mine. Try wearing a tinfoil hat, Hamilton.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
So... is there anyone here you don't think is Wendy?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
Bambooharvester is not Wendy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Oh and jhon Smith and blue and chip.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: He might actually listen to you.
Ay yo, Mr or Mrs Telcob. Please tell transhamilton that Gary isn’t Wendy.
Thanks
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: He might actually listen to you.
Citations need Ed
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: He might actually listen to you.
Yes, we keep waiting for you to provide citations for your nonsensical claims. You can show them any time you want.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]