I know I've been reading Techdirt too long when...
my first thought on reading this article was "Hmm, there's a business opportunity here for somebody to set up an auto-request-extensions business because this judge isn't meeting the needs of his government customers..."
Which is why the redaction-of-the-final-letter(s) case interested me :) Does one treat it as if the terminal "s" is there, or does one treat it as if it's not an "s", or is there some peculiar exception for redacted letters?
From your first two links, it sounds like either is acceptable as long as one is consistent. :)
commnet.edu: "Some writers will say that the -s after Charles' is not necessary and that adding only the apostrophe (Charles' car) will suffice to show possession. Consistency is the key here: if you choose not to add the -s after a noun that already ends in s, do so consistently throughout your text."
purdue.edu: "James' hat is also acceptable."
Personally, I'm from the Strunk & White category that would use "James's" (or in this case, the original "Mr. Smarta**'s" as was in the post), but I can't see things like that without at least wondering about it.
Even if you wanted to argue that it's somehow "good for the economy" to artificially prop up pharma companies with longer and stronger patents, if it comes at the expense of public health, that's not going to help the economy at all. A healthy population is a consuming population. Letting people die around the world is not good for the economy.
Do you have any studies backing this? My gut feeling is that people with endangered health assume a "whatever it costs" desperation, even if it means driving them to the brink of bankruptcy (or over the edge). And if the poor are a burden on society's coffers, their deaths free up funds to better stimulate the economy.
Unless of course, there are causes more important than a free market... :-)
[T-shirts] can be quite lucrative (and, yes, for all the people asking, we really will be restocking our own t-shirts soon).
I'd be up for the paywall shirt. How about a less disjoint range of prices? There's a vast gap between $25 (for a t-shirt you can't have because it's currently sold-out) and $1000. Perhaps past experiments have shown this to be a ghost-town of a price-point. Also, details on the Crystal Ball would be nice: I tend to read via RSS, but without a "Crystal Ball" RSS feed, it wouldn't do me any good.
It's "easy" to claim that technology "destroys" jobs, but it's never the case in practice. It may change jobs, but increased efficiency creates jobs through economic growth.
There is job destruction: of jobs that can be replaced by a machine. The new jobs created by growth require new skills, and a lazy subset of people want jobs that don't require them to change & remain relevant.
Saying that it's "up to the rightsholder" is an interpretation of the law that assumes the rightsholder has full control.
They seem to be forgetting that the true rights-holders are the people. The law defines exceptions with the intent of providing the creators an incentive to create more.
They say that it's only the web that gets blocked. Email (um, not if you use web-based email), VoIP "or any security or health service (such as home security or medical monitoring)" will still be allowed to go through.
a real shame if your medical or home-security system uses a web service...
If the BSA can claim that "if they hadn't violated copyright, we would have earned $ABSURD_MONEY (even if they would never have purchased it otherwise)", I guess I can claim that "if copyright hadn't been ridiculously extended, I wouldn't have to spend $ABSURD_MONEY on things that would be otherwise free." So I guess that means that hyperextended copyright has cost me $ABSURD_MONEY. Why don't we call it a wash and return to the original terms of copyright?
Could one directly sue the USPTO on the grounds that the reviewers are unqualified as "a person having ordinary skill in the art"? Unless the reviewers can be shown to meet this (albeit low) level of skill, any patents granted outside their skills would almost have to be invalidated (or at least subject to reconsideration/review).
Maybe he needs to get a judgment from the Hyrule of law so he can tri[to]force people to comply with his world-view. He should just get back to abducting Zelda...
I think that (in North-African/Mid-East upheaval) a threshold was crossed that demanded immediacy because there was no near event-horizon in which the hope of change could happen. If Egyptians knew that in 2-4 years they could vote the bum out without risking lives or imprisonment, would the rebellion have reached such a crescendo? I doubt it. And would platitudes from the president and laying-low have appeased the masses in the hope that apathy could allow him to regain the "whatever, I'm fine with the status quo" vote when elections next rolled around?
On the post: How Certain Judges Let The Feds Hide Questionable Spying Activity
I know I've been reading Techdirt too long when...
On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
Re: Possessives and redaction...
On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
Re: Possessives and redaction...
commnet.edu: "Some writers will say that the -s after Charles' is not necessary and that adding only the apostrophe (Charles' car) will suffice to show possession. Consistency is the key here: if you choose not to add the -s after a noun that already ends in s, do so consistently throughout your text."
purdue.edu: "James' hat is also acceptable."
Personally, I'm from the Strunk & White category that would use "James's" (or in this case, the original "Mr. Smarta**'s" as was in the post), but I can't see things like that without at least wondering about it.
On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
Possessives and redaction...
Am I the only one who wondered whether the possessive form should be "Mr. Smarta**'" instead of "Mr. Smarta**'s"?
On the post: Obama Administration Trying To Move Away From Allowing Countries To Ignore Patents To Save Lives
Death is not(?) good for the economy...
Do you have any studies backing this? My gut feeling is that people with endangered health assume a "whatever it costs" desperation, even if it means driving them to the brink of bankruptcy (or over the edge). And if the poor are a burden on society's coffers, their deaths free up funds to better stimulate the economy.
Unless of course, there are causes more important than a free market... :-)
On the post: Lawyers For Thomas Cooley Law School Skirt Legal & Ethical Questions In Uncovering Anonymous Blogger They're Suing
Can't even make 1st-place in your own ranking system?!
On the post: Canadian Pharmacies React To US Gov't Taking $500 Million From Google Over Their Ads
Death before a response
On the post: Verizon Removes FTP Access For Security... Well, Security Of Its Revenue At Least
They just don't detail the type of security issue...
On the post: A Response To Felicia Day On How Video Gets Funded In A Fragmented, Digital World
T-shirts
I'd be up for the paywall shirt. How about a less disjoint range of prices? There's a vast gap between $25 (for a t-shirt you can't have because it's currently sold-out) and $1000. Perhaps past experiments have shown this to be a ghost-town of a price-point. Also, details on the Crystal Ball would be nice: I tend to read via RSS, but without a "Crystal Ball" RSS feed, it wouldn't do me any good.
On the post: Politicians, Innovation & The Paradox Of Job Creation
Job "destruction"
There is job destruction: of jobs that can be replaced by a machine. The new jobs created by growth require new skills, and a lazy subset of people want jobs that don't require them to change & remain relevant.
On the post: UK Business Secretary: Blocking Sites Under DEA Is 'Unworkable'; Time To Add More Exceptions To Copyright
The true rights-holders
-gumnos
On the post: Major US ISPs Agree To Five Strikes Plan, Rather Than Three
Re: Re: Re: Only the web!
On the post: Major US ISPs Agree To Five Strikes Plan, Rather Than Three
Re: Only the web!
a real shame if your medical or home-security system uses a web service...
On the post: A Filmmaker Explains Why Copyright Sucks Today: An Excerpt From 'Sell Your Own Damn Movie!
Repetative redundancy that repeats itself?
"Disney...hypnotist materials" and "pile of cash"...feeling redundant today?
On the post: Reminder: Please Help Us Calculate The 'Cost' Of Overprotective Copyright Laws
The cost of things not purchased
On the post: Score One For The Trolls: Supreme Court Says Congress Intended It To Be Very Difficult To Invalidate Patents
Directly suing the USPTO?
On the post: DHS Boss: 'Very, Very, Very Few People Get A Pat Down'; Reality: ~1.8 Million People Per Month
And when the lawsuits start...
On the post: Things Get Worse And Worse For Sony As Another Massive Data Breach Detected
The breech would have been discovered earlier...
On the post: Is It Rude To Link To Someone Without First Asking Permission?
Gannon and Link issues...seriously?
On the post: Just Because A Population Isn't Politically Active Now, Doesn't Mean They Can't Become Politically Active Quickly
Re: Re: Instantaneous vs. average
I think that (in North-African/Mid-East upheaval) a threshold was crossed that demanded immediacy because there was no near event-horizon in which the hope of change could happen. If Egyptians knew that in 2-4 years they could vote the bum out without risking lives or imprisonment, would the rebellion have reached such a crescendo? I doubt it. And would platitudes from the president and laying-low have appeased the masses in the hope that apathy could allow him to regain the "whatever, I'm fine with the status quo" vote when elections next rolled around?
Next >>