This is an interesting approach to dealing with DRM. I'm always a little wary of the need to go running to the government for help without other alternatives being exhausted first, but the letters do make a strong case that this is a longstanding problem that has not been solved through the marketplace.
Of course we need government to solve this problem; government created it! Bear in mind that, if you strip away the legal context and look purely at what DRM actually does, what you see is a hacking tool. If it were not for the DMCA specifically giving it legal validation and protection, deploying DRM would be a criminal act. (And those legal protections and validations being repealed would be an unambiguously good thing, but that's another matter...)
Having a census is important. But it should be clearly and directly limited to just that purpose. There should be no storage of names and addresses. There should only be storage of the final aggregate data.
...just like they've always done in... oh yeah, in no census ever.
However much of a problem it may be over the short term, personally identifiable data in census records makes for incredibly valuable historical documents. Just ask any historian or genealogist.
If this were a purely hypothetical problem, I might agree. But considering that there have already been multiple reports of predatory types using Pokemon Go to attract victims to assault/rob/rape/kill by camping at out-of-the-way stops, this seems like an eminently sensible step for Governor Cuomo to take.
Wait, so Niantic brings a bunch of tresspassers to my property (hypothetically speaking; I haven't actually had any yet) and it's my responsibility to fix it?
Having a friend who is an attorney seems to indicate you speak from a position of privilege.
Not particularly. I just happen to go to church with someone who's an attorney, and both have positions in the congregation where we end up working together a lot.
Counterpoint: If it were that urgent, it would be that much more important to get it right.
In such a case, I would most likely call up my attorney friend and ask him, "if you needed a personal injury lawyer right now, who would you call? Because I need one. Right now." He's a decent enough guy that I'm reasonably confident this would get good results.
He also points out that the firm's reputation was pretty much an open sewage line well before Cai expressed her opinion, so it's unlikely the office can prove yet another negative review caused any actual damage to the firm itself.
...which kind of makes me wonder, why did she go with them in the first place? If I needed representation, I'd do some research, and I'd talk with a friend of mine who's an attorney (who doesn't necessarily specialize in the area I need representation in, but probably knows a bunch of people that do) in order to find someone who'd be likely to do a good job.
When the concept of lawyers being sleazy by default is such a pervasive part of our culture that we have an entire genre of humor dedicated to it with its own Wikipedia page, even, it seems to me that hiring one without doing any due diligence is essentially akin to walking down a dark alley at night. You may or may not end up having a really bad experience, and if you do, the culpability lies squarely on the person(s) who victimized you, but even so... you really should have known better than to do that in the first place!
The two most important factors they’re asked to keep in mind is ... and that the software needs to be constantly monitored and updated with new information. (If you’re relying on data from five or ten years ago, it’s not going to be accurate.)
I have to wonder about that particular point. Are they really implying that they believe human nature is going to change that much in 5-10 years?
Daniel Meyer, who previously oversaw the Defense Department’s decisions on whistleblowing cases, also says he was targeted for being gay, according to records obtained by McClatchy.
...because we all know how hostile the Obama administration is towards that particular demographic!
True, Schmollaert wasn’t doing this just for the sake of committing a tort, but neither was Bollaert — Schmollaert wanted to tell an interesting story, or maybe expose an acquaintance whom Schmollaert disliked, while Bollaert wanted to make money, and both purposefully used people’s identifying information as a means of accomplishing that goal.
That's stretching things a little. Bollaert was doing this for the sake of committing a tort, because the way he wanted to make money involved committing a tort as an integral part of the business model.
Back before I landed a job as a programmer, I paid the bills working at a clinic, and this was one thing they drilled into everyone's heads again and again and again. Under no circumstances do you ever share patient information with anyone, without a release signed by that patient.
If I'd pulled a stunt like that, I'd have probably been fired, sued, and possibly even arrested for it!
In other countries, the concern about net neutrality was always that telcos would do things like block VoIP. In the UAE, the government goes so far as to not just support such blocking, but actively work to criminalize the use of a VPN to get around such blocks.
In other countries, the concern about copyright was always that the publishers would do things like install malware on your computer to block copying. In the USA, the government goes so far as to not just support such malware, but actively works to criminalize the use of circumvention techniques to get around such blocks.
I've run across that idea before, and it never ceases to confuse and/or horrify me. It strikes me as similar to someone saying that the only way to demonstrate how bad car crashes are is to deliberately get in one, while they are in the car.
More like, we're stuck in a car that's got uncontrolled acceleration and the brakes aren't working. There's only one way that's going to end, so you might as well crash it deliberately in a manner of your choosing, instead of letting it happen in a way that you're unprepared for.
(Not saying I agree, but I can understand the sentiment without having to agree with it.)
IP lawyers write a big letter telling people in charge of IP to regulate IP less strictly, thus leading to a probable decrease in opportunities for frivolous IP lawsuits that end up benefitting nobody but IP lawyers?
What's next? Mass hysteria? Cats and dogs living together?
A year ago, we wrote about an interesting new organisation called Bellingcat. Although it's not clear what kind of project it should be called, it's easy to understand what it does: it takes publicly-available information from many sources, and tries to piece together the jigsaw puzzle of contemporary events.
There's actually already a well-established name for people who do that kind of work: intelligence analysts. Used to be that only governments and the occasional megacorp had the resources to utilize them, but it seems technology is leveling the playing field.
She never did. She's toxic. She has all the baggage of being a Clinton, without Bill's charisma. The only way she won the primaries was by cheating every step of the way, as the recent email leaks reveal, but she's not in charge of the folks running the presidential elections.
New York and California are traditionally liberal states that the Republicans wouldn't have won anyway. Texas is just the opposite, and do you really think there are enough Hispanics there to change the equation? (They're called "minorities" for a reason.)
Midwest Math, or Welcome to Our Rust Belt Brexit. I believe Trump is going to focus much of his attention on the four blue states in the rustbelt of the upper Great Lakes – Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Four traditionally Democratic states – but each of them have elected a Republican governor since 2010 (only Pennsylvania has now finally elected a Democrat). In the Michigan primary in March, more Michiganders came out to vote for the Republicans (1.32 million) that the Democrats (1.19 million). Trump is ahead of Hillary in the latest polls in Pennsylvania and tied with her in Ohio. Tied? How can the race be this close after everything Trump has said and done? Well maybe it’s because he’s said (correctly) that the Clintons’ support of NAFTA helped to destroy the industrial states of the Upper Midwest. Trump is going to hammer Clinton on this and her support of TPP and other trade policies that have royally screwed the people of these four states. When Trump stood in the shadow of a Ford Motor factory during the Michigan primary, he threatened the corporation that if they did indeed go ahead with their planned closure of that factory and move it to Mexico, he would slap a 35% tariff on any Mexican-built cars shipped back to the United States. It was sweet, sweet music to the ears of the working class of Michigan, and when he tossed in his threat to Apple that he would force them to stop making their iPhones in China and build them here in America, well, hearts swooned and Trump walked away with a big victory that should have gone to the governor next-door, John Kasich.
From Green Bay to Pittsburgh, this, my friends, is the middle of England – broken, depressed, struggling, the smokestacks strewn across the countryside with the carcass of what we use to call the Middle Class. Angry, embittered working (and nonworking) people who were lied to by the trickle-down of Reagan and abandoned by Democrats who still try to talk a good line but are really just looking forward to rub one out with a lobbyist from Goldman Sachs who’ll write them nice big check before leaving the room. What happened in the UK with Brexit is going to happen here. Elmer Gantry shows up looking like Boris Johnson and just says whatever shit he can make up to convince the masses that this is their chance! To stick to ALL of them, all who wrecked their American Dream! And now The Outsider, Donald Trump, has arrived to clean house! You don’t have to agree with him! You don’t even have to like him! He is your personal Molotov cocktail to throw right into the center of the bastards who did this to you! SEND A MESSAGE! TRUMP IS YOUR MESSENGER!
And this is where the math comes in. In 2012, Mitt Romney lost by 64 electoral votes. Add up the electoral votes cast by Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. It’s 64. All Trump needs to do to win is to carry, as he’s expected to do, the swath of traditional red states from Idaho to Georgia (states that’ll never vote for Hillary Clinton), and then he just needs these four rust belt states. He doesn’t need Florida. He doesn’t need Colorado or Virginia. Just Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. And that will put him over the top. This is how it will happen in November.
That was point 1 of his recent article, "5 reasons why Trump will win." Points 2-4 basically cover the same ground as the point I made above, that Trump has a decided edge in constituency enthusiasm. Don't underestimate this; it means he's likely to win the voter turnout game hands-down!
And point 5 is that he represents real change. Remember how many people voted for Obama's "hope and change" and ended up getting 8 years of more of the same? Hillary's the ultimate insider, but whatever else you may say about Donald Trump, he's anything but "politics as usual!" (Sure, he represents a horrible, chaotic, destructive change for the worse, but he undeniably represents real change, and that's good enough for a lot of people, and a lot of voters!)
I don't like it, but I think Moore's right more than he's wrong with these points.
On the post: EFF Asks FTC To Demand 'Truth In Labeling' For DRM
Of course we need government to solve this problem; government created it! Bear in mind that, if you strip away the legal context and look purely at what DRM actually does, what you see is a hacking tool. If it were not for the DMCA specifically giving it legal validation and protection, deploying DRM would be a criminal act. (And those legal protections and validations being repealed would be an unambiguously good thing, but that's another matter...)
On the post: Australian Government's Stupid Census Plans Puts Privacy At Risk, May Destroy Their Own Census
...just like they've always done in... oh yeah, in no census ever.
However much of a problem it may be over the short term, personally identifiable data in census records makes for incredibly valuable historical documents. Just ask any historian or genealogist.
On the post: Why Is The Copyright Office Lying To Protect The Cable Industry's Monopoly Stranglehold Over The Cable Box?
It's called copy right, not usage right.
It's called copy right, not usage right.
It's called copy right, not usage right.
Why is this so hard for so many people to understand?
On the post: New York Makes Playing Pokemon Go, Other Online Games A Sex Offender Parole Violation
Re: Of course...
On the post: New York Makes Playing Pokemon Go, Other Online Games A Sex Offender Parole Violation
On the post: New Jersey Man Files Lawsuit Over Pokemon Go After A Few Players Politely Knocked On His Door
Re: Re: Re:
Does that seem ridiculously wrong to anyone else?
On the post: Houston Law Firm Sues Student With Severe Back Injuries For $200k After She Posts Negative Reviews To Yelp, Facebook
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Not particularly. I just happen to go to church with someone who's an attorney, and both have positions in the congregation where we end up working together a lot.
On the post: Houston Law Firm Sues Student With Severe Back Injuries For $200k After She Posts Negative Reviews To Yelp, Facebook
Re: Re:
In such a case, I would most likely call up my attorney friend and ask him, "if you needed a personal injury lawyer right now, who would you call? Because I need one. Right now." He's a decent enough guy that I'm reasonably confident this would get good results.
On the post: Houston Law Firm Sues Student With Severe Back Injuries For $200k After She Posts Negative Reviews To Yelp, Facebook
...which kind of makes me wonder, why did she go with them in the first place? If I needed representation, I'd do some research, and I'd talk with a friend of mine who's an attorney (who doesn't necessarily specialize in the area I need representation in, but probably knows a bunch of people that do) in order to find someone who'd be likely to do a good job.
When the concept of lawyers being sleazy by default is such a pervasive part of our culture that we have an entire genre of humor dedicated to it with its own Wikipedia page, even, it seems to me that hiring one without doing any due diligence is essentially akin to walking down a dark alley at night. You may or may not end up having a really bad experience, and if you do, the culpability lies squarely on the person(s) who victimized you, but even so... you really should have known better than to do that in the first place!
On the post: State Supreme Court Says Secret Software Used In Sentencing Determinations Not A Violation Of Due Process Rights
I have to wonder about that particular point. Are they really implying that they believe human nature is going to change that much in 5-10 years?
On the post: Intelligence Community's Top Whistleblower Protector In Need Of Some Whistleblower Protection
...because we all know how hostile the Obama administration is towards that particular demographic!
On the post: After Cracking Down On Tens Of Thousands Of Enemies, Erdogan Says He's Dropping His 2000 Lawsuits Over Insults
Re: Re:
On the post: How California's Identity Fraud Law Has Been Interpreted To Criminalize Defamation, Publicity Rights Violations And More
That's stretching things a little. Bollaert was doing this for the sake of committing a tort, because the way he wanted to make money involved committing a tort as an integral part of the business model.
On the post: Dentist Sues Another Unhappy Patient; Offers To Let Journalist See Patients' Private Files To Dispute Claims
Back before I landed a job as a programmer, I paid the bills working at a clinic, and this was one thing they drilled into everyone's heads again and again and again. Under no circumstances do you ever share patient information with anyone, without a release signed by that patient.
If I'd pulled a stunt like that, I'd have probably been fired, sued, and possibly even arrested for it!
On the post: United Arab Emirates Makes Using A VPN A Crime... To Protect The Local Telcos From VoIP Competition
In other countries, the concern about copyright was always that the publishers would do things like install malware on your computer to block copying. In the USA, the government goes so far as to not just support such malware, but actively works to criminalize the use of circumvention techniques to get around such blocks.
On the post: 'Wish I Had The Power' To Hack Enemies' Emails, Says Man Very Close To Having Such Power
Re: Re: Maybe this is what we need...
More like, we're stuck in a car that's got uncontrolled acceleration and the brakes aren't working. There's only one way that's going to end, so you might as well crash it deliberately in a manner of your choosing, instead of letting it happen in a way that you're unprepared for.
(Not saying I agree, but I can understand the sentiment without having to agree with it.)
On the post: IP Lawyers Tell Copyright Office To Stop Screwing The Public By Opposing Cable Box Reform
IP lawyers write a big letter telling people in charge of IP to regulate IP less strictly, thus leading to a probable decrease in opportunities for frivolous IP lawsuits that end up benefitting nobody but IP lawyers?
What's next? Mass hysteria? Cats and dogs living together?
On the post: This Is What It Was Like To Take Part In The Failed Turkish Coup, In The Words Of The Plotters
There's actually already a well-established name for people who do that kind of work: intelligence analysts. Used to be that only governments and the occasional megacorp had the resources to utilize them, but it seems technology is leveling the playing field.
On the post: Whether Or Not Russians Hacked DNC Means Nothing Concerning How Newsworthy The Details Are
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Whether Or Not Russians Hacked DNC Means Nothing Concerning How Newsworthy The Details Are
Re: Re: Re: Re:
You'd be hard-pressed to find a more committed far-left ideologue than Michael Moore, but even he says the numbers add up:
That was point 1 of his recent article, "5 reasons why Trump will win." Points 2-4 basically cover the same ground as the point I made above, that Trump has a decided edge in constituency enthusiasm. Don't underestimate this; it means he's likely to win the voter turnout game hands-down!
And point 5 is that he represents real change. Remember how many people voted for Obama's "hope and change" and ended up getting 8 years of more of the same? Hillary's the ultimate insider, but whatever else you may say about Donald Trump, he's anything but "politics as usual!" (Sure, he represents a horrible, chaotic, destructive change for the worse, but he undeniably represents real change, and that's good enough for a lot of people, and a lot of voters!)
I don't like it, but I think Moore's right more than he's wrong with these points.
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