Congress: Long on talk, very short on action, and bereft of the knowledge necessary to perform their function.
Reflecting on the actions of our politicians lately, I think it would be more efficient and cost effective to have a bunch of monkeys do their job.
Monkeys seem to have about the same amount of knowledge of the law, around the same attention span, able to work for less, will certainly cause less harm to the citizens, and most assuredly tell far fewer lies.
Of course, lobbyists bearing bananas might be a problem, but happily monkeys will forget about the lobbyists once the bananas have been eaten.
Much like a drowning man trying yo save himself, the NSA will not fail to grasp at any metaphorical straw no matter how small or futile, in an effort to save face.
Lately whenever I see an article with "NSA" in the title, I hear the theme from 'The Three Stoges" play in my head.
I think this goes to show that you don't need to be intelligent, capable of rational thought, or acquainted with U.S. history in any way to work for one of American's premiere spy agencies.
The only real requirement is to be a liar, and you don't really need to be a very good one.
From the point of view of the DOJ, this is a God send.
They (DOJ) currently look like a herd of brain dead jackasses with the way they have handled this case.
Everything they have touched has gone straight down the tubes.
If they file to dismiss the charges, it will only make them look even worse (if that is possible).
By having the hosting provider delete possible exculpatory evidence, the entire proceeding is tainted thus warranting a dismissal.
The case goes away for reasons beyond the control of the DOJ, letting them trumpet to the press how they would have convicted Kim, if not for the loss of evidence.
This seems to be a big face saving win for the DOJ.
up to their eyeballs, but not looking at "secrets"
Given how much these documents are now showing up in the news, you have to imagine that Defense Department "Security Managers" are up to their eyeballs in "reports" from staffers who "inadvertently" run across such classified materials.
No one at those departments are searching the Internet for secret documents.
Perhaps we have forgotten their proclivity for searching out porn... that is keeping them busy.
Reading this article and many of the others on the net about this subject, I wonder if perhaps Verizon and the other companies are compliant because money is involved.
If the government is reimbursing the companies for cooperating, perhaps that would explain why they are so willing to roll over against their customers.
These large communications corporations certainly have enough money and lawyers to appeal an order like this.
Since none of them are stating they tried this tactic it makes me think they sought no legal recourse against the order for securing citizen information.
Oh look, it's an anonymous troll whining about an article that did have a 'substantive suggestion' counterpart yesterday where a blind law professor explained what needed to be done. Oh look, he's that starved for attention.
The troll seems to desperately want a substantive suggestion, so I have one.
If the troll wants to see the real dipshit here, s/he should look in a mirror.
The MPAA lobbyists have been hanging around politicians for way to long.They have learnt the art of saying one thing whilst doing the opposite; which is a vital art for elected politicians.
Chris Dodd was a politician. The MPAA doesn't need to "learn" anything... they just buy politicians that already have expertise in double speak and lies.
The fact that the author of this article is intentionally trying to give us a black eye by saying we were bullying this girl is absurd.
The author of the article has no need to try and give Solaroad a black eye. It appears both the CEO's own words and yours did that all by themselves.
The author of this article seems intent on trying to make us look like terrible people.
Again, your own words make you seem like terrible people.
I would also like to state that having worked for Retti since 2007 I have observed on many occasions that Retti has acted in a prudent and acceptable manner regarding his activities in his elected industry.
If by his "elected industry" you mean looking like a patent troll, then I agree with you.
We have everything on the line here, and we have to protect what is ours. To those people who don't like it, to hell with you.
It seems you and others of your company have a problem with impulse control.
I would suggest your company's officers (and spokesperson) should invest some time in learning how to reach out to people without insulting them for not seeing things the way you think they should.
Perhaps this problem is why your company's "idea" has languished for so many years due to a lack of funding?
I know for a fact that Retti was paying the tuition and living expenses for at least a half dozen college students who had no means of attending college without his help.
From the article:
While throwing around nearly baseless legal threats, Solaroad might want to be a bit more careful with its careless shouts of "infringement." One of its "future products" is SolarFilm:
SolarFilm is a sprayable nano-based solar technology that creates energy by using heat, light, and magnetics. It's unique formulation of photovoltaic (PV) and thermionic chemical compositions make it one of the most advanced solar technologies ever created. SolarFilm is durable, efficient, and extremely versatile. It can be easily applied to a variety of surfaces, such as roadways, shingles, siding, vehicle paints and much more.
This bears quite a resemblance to SolaRoad, another solar-generation-via-roadway-application product developed by Dutch company TNO.
It looks as if your company plays fast and loose with the truth. Why should anyone believe anything you say?
Perhaps people who do not know the extensive laws concerning patents should not comment on them.
First Amendment in the Constitution (free speech in case you are unfamiliar with it) says we are as free to speculate
about patents and your company's motivation in bullying a student as you are free to continue spewing your apparent nonsensical responses.
In closing I would refer you to the "Streisand Effect", which I suspect is beginning to envelop your company. You and the CEO should really stop digging now.
Re: Re: Re: Corporations and the people they are made of
I'm not sure you read the same article I did.
Holding an application is nowhere near as effective as holding an actual patent. While some royalties may be collected from infringement that occurred after the application was published, certain stipulations must be met before the original applicant can make a claim for damages. One of these requirements is that the infringer must have "actual notice" of the published patent. It's hard to imagine that most (if any) science fair projects begin with a patent search, so the noise Solaroad's making only serves one purpose: to inform the involved parties that a.) it exists, b.) it's willing to sue and c.) it's filed an application(s) that might tenuously be related to Khare's work. If she chooses to commercialize her supercapacitor work, Retti can claim she had "actual notice."
Sounds like he is quite willing to sue if the young lady makes or attempts to make any money as a result of her project.
Perhaps Retti should spend less time fretting about inventive 18-year-olds and start refining its existing product line. A visit to Solaroad's site gives you the feeling the products it's touting have endless upside, but digging around a little more leads to the impression that its main products exist only as PDFs and Powerpoint presentations.
One of the signs of a potential patent troll is holding patents (or in this case an application) and doing nothing with it. No product, no further development, just a miserably failed attempt to get funding.
While throwing around nearly baseless legal threats, Solaroad might want to be a bit more careful with its careless shouts of "infringement." One of its "future products" is SolarFilm
This bears quite a resemblance to SolaRoad, another solar-generation-via-roadway-application product developed by Dutch company TNO. This is due for a test run in 2013, with an eye towards replacing all 85,000+ km of the Netherlands' roads and bike paths with the combination solar panel/concrete hybrid.
There's likely no infringement occurring here (in either direction), but Retti and Solaroad have shown they're more than willing to take offense at independent invention. This does very little for whatever legal case it may try to pursue, but it does a great deal towards crafting some very negative "publicity."
More potential troll behavior by making false or inflated product or patent claims.
Sorry, but I don't see the CEO as someone being slighted by the science project winner or a lack of funding.
It still seems as if he is a greedy individual willing to bully and setup for a lawsuit against someone that independently came up with her research that surpasses an idea he had in the 1980s.
I found this article to be interesting on several levels.
The portion of the article that provoked the most thought for me involved the Sloaroad CEO Kahrl Retti and another Solaroad employee Nick Cameron.
It is often stated in the press that corporations are amoral by their very nature and measure success by putting profits above all else.
The Solaroad CEO deciding to take the moral low road regarding the science Fair winner Eesha Khare by threatening a possible lawsuit for something the article says they hold no U.S. patent on, shows that perhaps the amorality of corporations comes from the actions of those that run the corporations.
I wonder if Kahrl Retti stopped for one minute to consider how he would feel if he had a daughter that was threatened in a similar manner by a corporation.
I suspect he did not for one instant pause for that introspection. I believe he saw dollars dancing in his head... dollars that were dancing away from his wallet towards someone else.
This sounds like someone that is motivated by greed above all else.
Another respondent here opined about Solaroad offering a job to the science fair winner. That is a most excellent idea... but apparently greed clouded the judgment that would have allowed for that decision.
On the post: Federal Official Declares That Anyone Who Speaks Out Against Lie Detector Tests Should Be Criminally Investigated
Re: And the elephant in the room is...
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to put some cookies in the oven for the imminent SWAT assault, I heard the local team likes macadamia nut the best.
I would recommend putting the copious amounts of elephant poop you are going to acquire into the cookies instead.
Would serve the SWAT team right.
On the post: Right Before Snowden Leaks, President Obama Fired Nearly All Members On Key Intelligence Advisory Board
oversight? Pfft...
/s
On the post: Senate Intelligence Committee Has Been Able To Challenge Classification Of Documents For Forty Years; It's Just Never Done It
Congress
Reflecting on the actions of our politicians lately, I think it would be more efficient and cost effective to have a bunch of monkeys do their job.
Monkeys seem to have about the same amount of knowledge of the law, around the same attention span, able to work for less, will certainly cause less harm to the citizens, and most assuredly tell far fewer lies.
Of course, lobbyists bearing bananas might be a problem, but happily monkeys will forget about the lobbyists once the bananas have been eaten.
On the post: Prenda Lawyer Would Like Future Documents Sealed Because Techdirt Commenters Said Mean Stuff About Him
Nazaire
On the post: Telco Astroturfing Or Elaborate Double-Reverse Sabotage Fakeout? You Decide
Re: Re:
The poor guy is merely trying to earn his money... no matter how stupid it makes him look.
On the post: Every Time The NSA Is Asked About Its Ability To Spy On Everyone... It Answers About Its Authority
NSA spokespersons
Their lips are moving.
On the post: Intelligence Officials Can't Keep Story Straight: Snowden Both Did And Did Not Get Key NSA Secrets
Lately whenever I see an article with "NSA" in the title, I hear the theme from 'The Three Stoges" play in my head.
On the post: If The Feds Say Collecting Data Is Not A Search Until It Looks At Them, Is It Not Piracy Until You View The File?
On the post: Ex-CIA/NSA Boss Says Snowden Worse Than Every Spy From Benedict Arnold To The Rosenbergs
CIA/NSA Qualifications
The only real requirement is to be a liar, and you don't really need to be a very good one.
On the post: LeaseWeb Deletes Megaupload's Servers Without Warning, Destroying Key Evidence
Herd of jackasses
They (DOJ) currently look like a herd of brain dead jackasses with the way they have handled this case.
Everything they have touched has gone straight down the tubes.
If they file to dismiss the charges, it will only make them look even worse (if that is possible).
By having the hosting provider delete possible exculpatory evidence, the entire proceeding is tainted thus warranting a dismissal.
The case goes away for reasons beyond the control of the DOJ, letting them trumpet to the press how they would have convicted Kim, if not for the loss of evidence.
This seems to be a big face saving win for the DOJ.
On the post: DoD: If You See A Leaked NSA Document, Press SHIFT And DELETE To Get Rid Of It
up to their eyeballs, but not looking at "secrets"
No one at those departments are searching the Internet for secret documents.
Perhaps we have forgotten their proclivity for searching out porn... that is keeping them busy.
On the post: DoD: If You See A Leaked NSA Document, Press SHIFT And DELETE To Get Rid Of It
up to their eyeballs, but not looking at "secrets"
On the post: Verizon: We Protect Our Customers' Data... Until The Government Asks For It
Money...
If the government is reimbursing the companies for cooperating, perhaps that would explain why they are so willing to roll over against their customers.
These large communications corporations certainly have enough money and lawyers to appeal an order like this.
Since none of them are stating they tried this tactic it makes me think they sought no legal recourse against the order for securing citizen information.
Perhaps money eased their collective consciences?
On the post: Verizon: We Protect Our Customers' Data... Until The Government Asks For It
Who'e the bad guy?
"We are not the bad guys, we are protecting you." - Obama
"We are not the bad guys, maybe we did or didn't know about this. We can't remember." - Politicians
"We are not the bad guys, we aren't collecting any information." - NSA
I guess the bad guys are the citizens using their phones?
On the post: Irony Alert: John Steele Denies Uploading Anything Ever Despite Growing IP Evidence
Poor John Steal
Steele and his law firm are long overdue to get what they deserve.
Thanks to a lot of hard work by real attorneys and appropriate experts, it seems the end of this saga is at hand.
With any luck at all, Steele's next residence will involve iron bars and nerve wracking showers.
On the post: MPAA: Oh, Of Course We Want To Help The Blind Read More... Just As Long As You Don't Touch Copyright
Re: Re:
The troll seems to desperately want a substantive suggestion, so I have one.
If the troll wants to see the real dipshit here, s/he should look in a mirror.
On the post: MPAA: Oh, Of Course We Want To Help The Blind Read More... Just As Long As You Don't Touch Copyright
Re:
Chris Dodd was a politician. The MPAA doesn't need to "learn" anything... they just buy politicians that already have expertise in double speak and lies.
On the post: Student Wins Intel Science Fair; Threatened With Patent Infringement Claims For Patent Not Yet Granted
Re: Nick Cameron from Solaroad Technologies
The author of the article has no need to try and give Solaroad a black eye. It appears both the CEO's own words and yours did that all by themselves.
The author of this article seems intent on trying to make us look like terrible people.
Again, your own words make you seem like terrible people.
I would also like to state that having worked for Retti since 2007 I have observed on many occasions that Retti has acted in a prudent and acceptable manner regarding his activities in his elected industry.
If by his "elected industry" you mean looking like a patent troll, then I agree with you.
We have everything on the line here, and we have to protect what is ours. To those people who don't like it, to hell with you.
It seems you and others of your company have a problem with impulse control.
I would suggest your company's officers (and spokesperson) should invest some time in learning how to reach out to people without insulting them for not seeing things the way you think they should.
Perhaps this problem is why your company's "idea" has languished for so many years due to a lack of funding?
I know for a fact that Retti was paying the tuition and living expenses for at least a half dozen college students who had no means of attending college without his help.
From the article:
While throwing around nearly baseless legal threats, Solaroad might want to be a bit more careful with its careless shouts of "infringement." One of its "future products" is SolarFilm:
SolarFilm is a sprayable nano-based solar technology that creates energy by using heat, light, and magnetics. It's unique formulation of photovoltaic (PV) and thermionic chemical compositions make it one of the most advanced solar technologies ever created. SolarFilm is durable, efficient, and extremely versatile. It can be easily applied to a variety of surfaces, such as roadways, shingles, siding, vehicle paints and much more.
This bears quite a resemblance to SolaRoad, another solar-generation-via-roadway-application product developed by Dutch company TNO.
It looks as if your company plays fast and loose with the truth. Why should anyone believe anything you say?
Perhaps people who do not know the extensive laws concerning patents should not comment on them.
First Amendment in the Constitution (free speech in case you are unfamiliar with it) says we are as free to speculate
about patents and your company's motivation in bullying a student as you are free to continue spewing your apparent nonsensical responses.
In closing I would refer you to the "Streisand Effect", which I suspect is beginning to envelop your company. You and the CEO should really stop digging now.
On the post: Student Wins Intel Science Fair; Threatened With Patent Infringement Claims For Patent Not Yet Granted
Re: Re: Re: Corporations and the people they are made of
Holding an application is nowhere near as effective as holding an actual patent. While some royalties may be collected from infringement that occurred after the application was published, certain stipulations must be met before the original applicant can make a claim for damages. One of these requirements is that the infringer must have "actual notice" of the published patent. It's hard to imagine that most (if any) science fair projects begin with a patent search, so the noise Solaroad's making only serves one purpose: to inform the involved parties that a.) it exists, b.) it's willing to sue and c.) it's filed an application(s) that might tenuously be related to Khare's work. If she chooses to commercialize her supercapacitor work, Retti can claim she had "actual notice."
Sounds like he is quite willing to sue if the young lady makes or attempts to make any money as a result of her project.
Perhaps Retti should spend less time fretting about inventive 18-year-olds and start refining its existing product line. A visit to Solaroad's site gives you the feeling the products it's touting have endless upside, but digging around a little more leads to the impression that its main products exist only as PDFs and Powerpoint presentations.
One of the signs of a potential patent troll is holding patents (or in this case an application) and doing nothing with it. No product, no further development, just a miserably failed attempt to get funding.
While throwing around nearly baseless legal threats, Solaroad might want to be a bit more careful with its careless shouts of "infringement." One of its "future products" is SolarFilm
This bears quite a resemblance to SolaRoad, another solar-generation-via-roadway-application product developed by Dutch company TNO. This is due for a test run in 2013, with an eye towards replacing all 85,000+ km of the Netherlands' roads and bike paths with the combination solar panel/concrete hybrid.
There's likely no infringement occurring here (in either direction), but Retti and Solaroad have shown they're more than willing to take offense at independent invention. This does very little for whatever legal case it may try to pursue, but it does a great deal towards crafting some very negative "publicity."
More potential troll behavior by making false or inflated product or patent claims.
Sorry, but I don't see the CEO as someone being slighted by the science project winner or a lack of funding.
It still seems as if he is a greedy individual willing to bully and setup for a lawsuit against someone that independently came up with her research that surpasses an idea he had in the 1980s.
On the post: Student Wins Intel Science Fair; Threatened With Patent Infringement Claims For Patent Not Yet Granted
Corporations and the people they are made of
The portion of the article that provoked the most thought for me involved the Sloaroad CEO Kahrl Retti and another Solaroad employee Nick Cameron.
It is often stated in the press that corporations are amoral by their very nature and measure success by putting profits above all else.
The Solaroad CEO deciding to take the moral low road regarding the science Fair winner Eesha Khare by threatening a possible lawsuit for something the article says they hold no U.S. patent on, shows that perhaps the amorality of corporations comes from the actions of those that run the corporations.
I wonder if Kahrl Retti stopped for one minute to consider how he would feel if he had a daughter that was threatened in a similar manner by a corporation.
I suspect he did not for one instant pause for that introspection. I believe he saw dollars dancing in his head... dollars that were dancing away from his wallet towards someone else.
This sounds like someone that is motivated by greed above all else.
Another respondent here opined about Solaroad offering a job to the science fair winner. That is a most excellent idea... but apparently greed clouded the judgment that would have allowed for that decision.
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