"You really can't disagree with the Techdirt hivemind to any real degree before your comment gets disappeared by the dissenters."
This is simply untrue. Comments that seriously disagree with the majority of commenters here are left uncollapsed all the time.
The real problem with the vast majority of the comments that get collapsed is not that they disagreed with anybody, it's that they are full of vitriol, personal attacks, and outright lies.
In fairness, he's not entirely wrong on the nonreporting thing, at least in the US. I've been the victim of theft a few times, including one burglary, but never reported any of that because reporting it would require interacting with the police.
"The property at issue would have to be the encrypted information, since Capital One has complete freedom to use the phones themselves. If they don't need the information,"
True enough. That changes nothing of substance, though. Capital One owns every byte on those phones.
I don't think so. Cops go to Capital One and ask permission to unlock the phones. Capital One says "sure" and attempts to get the unlock codes from the employees.
The employees failing to turn over the codes isn't a contract issue, it's the property owners being denied the use of their own property. A bit like if you loaned your house key to someone, but they refused to turn the key over to someone else when you ask.
"If the question is, walled garden or no garden, which do you say is better?"
But that's not the question. It's just a false dichotomy. One of the real problems (and not the largest one) is that buying into the walled garden automatically kills other, better ways of getting internet service to these areas.
"The confidence in police dropping is in no small part in a shift of much of the US towards a "me" mentality, where people break the law all the time and don't expect to be held accountable"
I see exactly no evidence that this is the case. I think the continual misbehavior and overreactions on the part of the police entirely explain the loss of confidence.
People don't trust the police because the police are not trustworthy.
There is a point here that, in my opinion, makes all the difference in the world in this case:
Capital One let its employees use company-owned smartphones for work.
These phones are the property of Capital One, not the people who set the passcodes. On this basis alone, it seems that it should be possible to compel the users to reveal the passcodes to Capital One.
Re: Re: Those were heavilly moderated comments...[Re: Re: ]
"I have never heard of them not publishing a letter that was critical of the paper or of an opinion contrary to the paper's position."
It would be a hard thing to detect if they did. Most newspapers get a lot more letters to the editor than they can publish, so most of them never get printed. If a critical letter is omitted because it's critical, it would be difficult to say that's the reason rather than just a lack of space.
On the post: Inspector General Says Postal Service Surveillance Program Being Handled Just About As Well As You'd Expect
Re: Useless Postal Service
I do. I have two payments a month that can only be made by check, so I use the USPS twice a month to send it.
On the post: Zuckerberg Tells Angela Merkel Facebook Is On The Hate Speech Censorship Case
Re: Re: Techdirt
This is simply untrue. Comments that seriously disagree with the majority of commenters here are left uncollapsed all the time.
The real problem with the vast majority of the comments that get collapsed is not that they disagreed with anybody, it's that they are full of vitriol, personal attacks, and outright lies.
On the post: Canada Wants To Cut Price Of 'World's Most Expensive Drug'; US Manufacturer Sues To Stop It
Re:
On the post: In The Post-Ferguson World, Cops Are Now Victims And It's The Public That's Going To Pay The Price
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Excelllent piece
On the post: Court Says Fifth Amendment Covers Smartphone Passcodes, But It's Hardly A Victory For Constitutional Rights
Re: Re: Re: Re: The difference in my view
True enough. That changes nothing of substance, though. Capital One owns every byte on those phones.
On the post: DRM Still Breaking Games Nearly A Decade After Purchase
Re: Re:
This is done all the time, even here. Not only are they going to end up in the same state, but they will do so sooner.
On the post: Cox Points Out That Rightscorp Is Either A Mass Infringer Itself... Or Admits That Downloading Songs Can Be Fair Use
Re: Re:
On the post: In The Post-Ferguson World, Cops Are Now Victims And It's The Public That's Going To Pay The Price
Re: Re: Re: Excelllent piece
Not even close. Some laws overlap into moral issues, but the vast majority do not. They are purely procedural.
On the post: Court Says Fifth Amendment Covers Smartphone Passcodes, But It's Hardly A Victory For Constitutional Rights
Re: Re: The difference in my view
I don't think so. Cops go to Capital One and ask permission to unlock the phones. Capital One says "sure" and attempts to get the unlock codes from the employees.
The employees failing to turn over the codes isn't a contract issue, it's the property owners being denied the use of their own property. A bit like if you loaned your house key to someone, but they refused to turn the key over to someone else when you ask.
On the post: Facebook Hopes Renaming Internet.org App Will Shut Net Neutrality Critics Up
Re: can you really complain about free?
But that's not the question. It's just a false dichotomy. One of the real problems (and not the largest one) is that buying into the walled garden automatically kills other, better ways of getting internet service to these areas.
On the post: In The Post-Ferguson World, Cops Are Now Victims And It's The Public That's Going To Pay The Price
Re: Excelllent piece
I see exactly no evidence that this is the case. I think the continual misbehavior and overreactions on the part of the police entirely explain the loss of confidence.
People don't trust the police because the police are not trustworthy.
On the post: Court Says Fifth Amendment Covers Smartphone Passcodes, But It's Hardly A Victory For Constitutional Rights
The difference in my view
These phones are the property of Capital One, not the people who set the passcodes. On this basis alone, it seems that it should be possible to compel the users to reveal the passcodes to Capital One.
On the post: UK Copyright Group Plans Heavy Anti-Piracy Measures For Bond Film Because Of How Successful It Will Be
Re: We need centralized planning, yes?
Bullshit.
On the post: Now That Nielsen Can Actually Be Bothered To Track Internet Video, The Numbers For Traditional TV Are Getting Ugly
Re:
On the post: Now That Nielsen Can Actually Be Bothered To Track Internet Video, The Numbers For Traditional TV Are Getting Ugly
Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Jeb Bush Proudly Promises To Axe Net Neutrality If Elected
Re: its a legit position
I could not find a valid argument in that article. The arguments are resting on assumptions and interpretations that just aren't true.
On the post: How NSA Surveillance May Result In Fragmenting The Internet: EU Court Leaning Towards Ending 'Privacy Safe Harbor'
Re:
I see the internet as already fragmented. The fragmentation could be a lot worse, but it already exists.
On the post: The Trend Of Killing News Comment Sections Because You 'Just Really Value Conversation' Stupidly Continues
Re: Re: Those were heavilly moderated comments...[Re: Re: ]
It would be a hard thing to detect if they did. Most newspapers get a lot more letters to the editor than they can publish, so most of them never get printed. If a critical letter is omitted because it's critical, it would be difficult to say that's the reason rather than just a lack of space.
On the post: Appeals Court Says The Batmobile Is A 'Character' Covered By Copyright
Re: Licensed Batmobile Replica
On the post: UK Copyright Group Plans Heavy Anti-Piracy Measures For Bond Film Because Of How Successful It Will Be
Re:
That was my takeaway as well.
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