When the Nest smart thermostat was launched back in 2011, you may recall that it was met with an absolute torrent of gushing media adoration, most of it heralding the real arrival of the smart home.
5th generation wireless? We don't even have 4th generation yet!
Do you have a phone that runs on "4G LTE"? Do you know what the LTE part stands for? It means "long-term evolution," which is exactly what it sounds like: "4th generation wireless is too difficult to implement, so let's just implement part of it and get around to the rest of it eventually."
You'd think that the Copyright Alliance and the RIAA would support due process, but apparently that's too difficult.
Well yeah, that's kind of the entire point of the DMCA, now isn't it? Due process is too difficult, so let's come up with an end-run around it.
And then they decided the DMCA process was too difficult, so they came up with SOPA. We stopped that, but until we repeal the DMCA, this is going to keep happening.
Remember, when a weed grows in your garden, you can cut it off above ground, and it'll grow back, or you can uproot it, and then it's gone forever. The root of online copyright abuse is the DMCA.
In the case of my broadband provider, I have no choice. I must turn over to my provider information usable in obtaining a FICO credit score to my broadband provider so my provider can actually come out to my house, activate my connection, and bill me on a regular basis.
Wait, what?
I've been a Comcast internet customer (no choice; they're the only game in town) ever since I moved into my current apartment. At no time has a Comcast technician ever had to come over for any reason.
Why are you even asking this when we've been shown pretty clearly that even actual false eviction is not actionable these days? (How many people went to jail over robo-signing and similar scandals?)
When considering the use of a mark as a source identifier, the idea that someone might think that a Manchester United jersey emblazoned with that team's coach's name might instead have come from a team he'd first coached over a decade ago is plainly ludicrous.
The same file can change from being legal to infringing without changes to the file itself.
The same telephone number can change from being a sleazy robocaller to a legitimate citizen or business. (And if you're running a sleazy business based on making illicit phone calls, wouldn't you be more likely to change numbers quickly than the average person?)
Secondly, if it's so magically impossible, why is only one company not doing it? AT&T seem to be saying that it's either impossible or they refuse to implement a system with less than 100% accuracy.
...which is precisely Techdirt's position WRT copyright infringement detection algorithms: the fact that we see so many examples of false positives (even if the accuracy rate may be high overall) demonstrates that it doesn't work well enough to be worth using.
Does this mean that the other companies are randomly blocking or allowing calls that shouldn't be?
Quite possibly. And if a legitimate company tried to call you on legitimate business and it never got through... how would you know?
Far be it from me to defend AT&T for anti-consumer practices, but replace "phone company algorithm that magically detects robocalls" with "video hosting company algorightm that magically detects copyright infringement" and re-read the article, and AT&T sure sounds like they're taking Techdirt's usual position...
Maybe you kind of have to assemble a panel of people who write API implementations for a living to talk through what is reasonable or not, but it's important to get clear that what Google copied was declaring code, not the API implementations.
This is the sort of domain knowledge that lawyers try to specifically remove from a jury of can-you-even-call-them-peers-anymore.
The tech industry is very biased against Oracle.
As I've said before, the more informed a person is on a certain topic, the more likely they are to form a pro-truth bias. Being unbiased on almost any topic is not a sign of virtue or open-mindedness; it's a sign of ignorance.
Alsop: "I know the witness is a busy man, but the jurors have things to do in the afternoon; they're busy people as well, and right now their time counts more than his."
Yeah, but that's the point. An alibi is, by its very nature, just a defense. It's not a right that exists independent of being accused of something. This is not the case with Fair Use.
On the post: Jesse Jackson Likens FCC Cable Box Reform Plan To 'Snarling Dogs, Water Hoses And Church Bombings'
Re: Re: Here is what cable companies fear about opening up the set top box market
Considering that we're talking about people who nominated Donald Trump on one side and Hillary Clinton on the other...
On the post: Nest May Be The First Major Casualty Of Hollow 'Internet Of Things' Hype
Yep, I remember. As late as 2013, the media was sticking up for them and fawning over the way they "dar[ed] to make a better product."
On the post: Europe Has One Last Shot To Ensure Its Net Neutrality Rules Actually Work
Do you have a phone that runs on "4G LTE"? Do you know what the LTE part stands for? It means "long-term evolution," which is exactly what it sounds like: "4th generation wireless is too difficult to implement, so let's just implement part of it and get around to the rest of it eventually."
On the post: Jesse Jackson Likens FCC Cable Box Reform Plan To 'Snarling Dogs, Water Hoses And Church Bombings'
In other news, water is wet, the Pope is Catholic and traffic in DC is congested this morning.
On the post: RIAA Demands Takedown Of ThePirateBay.org, But EasyDNS Refuses Over Lack Of Due Process
Re: Re:
On the post: RIAA Demands Takedown Of ThePirateBay.org, But EasyDNS Refuses Over Lack Of Due Process
Well yeah, that's kind of the entire point of the DMCA, now isn't it? Due process is too difficult, so let's come up with an end-run around it.
And then they decided the DMCA process was too difficult, so they came up with SOPA. We stopped that, but until we repeal the DMCA, this is going to keep happening.
Remember, when a weed grows in your garden, you can cut it off above ground, and it'll grow back, or you can uproot it, and then it's gone forever. The root of online copyright abuse is the DMCA.
On the post: Cable Company Admits It Gives Poor Credit Score Customers -- Even Worse Customer Service
Re: Re:
On the post: Cable Company Admits It Gives Poor Credit Score Customers -- Even Worse Customer Service
Wait, what?
I've been a Comcast internet customer (no choice; they're the only game in town) ever since I moved into my current apartment. At no time has a Comcast technician ever had to come over for any reason.
On the post: State Dept. Press Briefing Video Had Tough Fox News Questioning Excised, Streisand Effect Takes Over
Re: Re: vote these clowns out now you idiot american twits
On the post: Apartment Building Attempts To Coerce Tenants Into Crazy Social Media Policy Post-Lease
Re:
Why are you even asking this when we've been shown pretty clearly that even actual false eviction is not actionable these days? (How many people went to jail over robo-signing and similar scandals?)
On the post: The Perversion Of Trademarks: Jose Mourinho Can't Coach Man-U Yet Because Former Club Trademarked His Name
One might even call it patently absurd.
On the post: State Dept. Press Briefing Video Had Tough Fox News Questioning Excised, Streisand Effect Takes Over
Re: Re: Re: Sleeping Dogs
On the post: AT&T Falsely Blames The FCC For Company's Failure To Block Annoying Robocalls
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Me? Never. Someone working in a phone bank for a political campaign might do so on a daily basis, though.
On the post: DOJ Says Judge Can't Order Its Lying Lawyers To Attend Ethics Classes
Re: Good faith, good faith,
On the post: AT&T Falsely Blames The FCC For Company's Failure To Block Annoying Robocalls
Re: Re:
The same telephone number can change from being a sleazy robocaller to a legitimate citizen or business. (And if you're running a sleazy business based on making illicit phone calls, wouldn't you be more likely to change numbers quickly than the average person?)
...which is precisely Techdirt's position WRT copyright infringement detection algorithms: the fact that we see so many examples of false positives (even if the accuracy rate may be high overall) demonstrates that it doesn't work well enough to be worth using.
Quite possibly. And if a legitimate company tried to call you on legitimate business and it never got through... how would you know?
On the post: AT&T Falsely Blames The FCC For Company's Failure To Block Annoying Robocalls
Far be it from me to defend AT&T for anti-consumer practices, but replace "phone company algorithm that magically detects robocalls" with "video hosting company algorightm that magically detects copyright infringement" and re-read the article, and AT&T sure sounds like they're taking Techdirt's usual position...
On the post: Stung By Yelp Reviews, Health Providers Spill Patient Secrets
Grammar nitpicking
Historic: history-making. One for the record books.
Historical: having to do with past data, such as a track record.
On the post: Techdirt Podcast Episode 75: What Happened At The Oracle Google Trial?
This is the sort of domain knowledge that lawyers try to specifically remove from a jury of can-you-even-call-them-peers-anymore.
As I've said before, the more informed a person is on a certain topic, the more likely they are to form a pro-truth bias. Being unbiased on almost any topic is not a sign of virtue or open-mindedness; it's a sign of ignorance.
That's applause-worthy.
On the post: Thailand Government Wants To Undermine Website Encryption, Hold ISPs Responsible For Third-Party Content
Wait... people are still using the word "Netizen" in 2016? I might be wrong, but I think the last time I heard anyone say that was in the 90s.
On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
Re: Re:
Next >>