Agree, this is just as bad as dropbox's setting public folders to private a while later AFTER they were posted, for users going inactive in the future. Not good for posterity. Even worse is that they prohibited the wayback machine from saving those links (excluded).
Scunthorpe problem, but NSFW images instead of swear words.
Techdirt, you forgot to mention that 2018, tumblr enforced that NSFW ban using algorithms, which resulted hundreds of innocent posts being flagged since image are context-based.
if the users of those posts flagged are inactive, they may be gone forever.
Some ads autoredirect, others opens tabs when clicking anywhere.
Some ads may auto-redirect when visiting the page or a few seconds after the page is loaded, however others may perform unexpected action when clicking anywhere on the page (even if you click on non-ad content such as links to another page within the website).
This situation often opens the intended target page URL in a new tab with the current tab going to the ad page. Effectively this is the tab version of pop-unders.
This BS happens a lot on file hosting sites like mediafire, some adult art sites like rule34, and some other sketchy sites.
One dirty trick to avoid this is by visiting the site, turn on airplane mode, click the link, close the suspicious tabs it opened (cannot load content because no internet connection), go to the tab of the target link, turn off airplane mode and refresh.
Ads are more of an annoyance if it is on a non-browser software
If it is an ad on a webpage that it is sandboxed within a browser in which that is acting as a user-agent (such as firefox, edge, or google chrome), at least the user have some control.
but when it comes to other software (often proprietary and not acting as a user's agent, unlike browsers) to run advertisement, the shady developers is the one that can force shady or outright intrusive behavior against the user.
In these situations, instead of blocking ads within the software (which is possible on browsers, but may require hacking the software to disable ads), how about blocking them at the network level? Enter pi-hole
The internet is a mixture of good and bad, it is stupid to nuke just because one thing on it is “bad”.
Also give praise to Hurricane Electric for standing up against the demands of the record labels. They KNEW that it is a f**cked up idea that a huge service with huge number of customers to be obligated to terminate an entire group of customers (because customers of customers, meaning one representative on behalf of hundreds of others).
ANYTHING can be abused, both product and services. To those who believe that the intermediaries should also be the police on things that should be the site's duty (like removing infringing content off the page) is an idiot. You might as well ban chair companies because chairs can be used as a weapon to harm others, or sue electric companies for serving electricity to the criminal's house in which that person is attempting to hack other's PC, and go to war against
“However, as the technology evolved, we increasingly saw the legacy entertainment companies recognize that they could get more bang for the buck by targeting infrastructure intermediaries.”
“They can't remove just the "bad" content. They can only remove (or, at least threaten to remove) all service, which can wreak havoc on a site. And we've seen how that pressure can be used to extreme ends.”
It's annoying that even basic things you have to enter such personal information. Even worse is when this applies to ALL games, not just games that horrid monetization schemes (microtransactions, loot boxes, etc.).
Thank goodness that it requires something in the physical world, a place where digital cannot effectively detect such things.
Publishers hated libraries since before the beginning of copyright law:
Public libraries started appearing in the mid-1800s. At the time, publishers went absolutely berserk: they had been lobbying for the lending of books to become illegal, as reading a book without paying anything first was “stealing”, they argued.
But sadly:
History does repeat itself. As do the people trying to defend obsolete guild-like privileges, even across centuries.
Like a forgotten concept of why copyright allows libraries to loan out books.
I know this is a few years late, but in case anyone knows what is he referring to “particular subroutine on a webpage” is probably disabling right-clicks, selection, F12 and many other user actions associated with with copying text. This “DRM” is very trivial to bypass:
-Firefox's shift right-click
-Inspect element can be opened in ways that JS cannot event-listen to, such as being on another site/page, F12, then visit the “DRM”'ed site (the devtools remain open across pages) or just the menu bar.
There are good reasons why website code cannot access such browser features like these:
-It is on the user's browser and PC. When visiting a site, the user's device sends a request to a server and the server will send the website data back.
-Letting sites control your browser is a security risk. The closest into doing that or at least attempted to exploit bugs at a certain degree are tech support scam sites which often perform browlocking techiques (such as preventing you from leaving the page)
Thankfully 1201 stated that the DRM have to be “effective”, and must be primarily designed to bypass restrictions to warrent its enforcement, which is probably why they cannot sue browsers for having an inspect element feature and many others.
“How do you make content stay down?”
“Will platforms REMEMBER the same content that got reposted elsewhere and to take those down as well?”
These copyright industry don't really understand and have not research actual information that “effectively” policing the internet is not possible. TheMysteriousMrEnter highlighted the impossibility of policing content at scale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-dRZ4uB1Mo
-Human moderation: Too slow
-Automation (static algorithms): People can easily bypass/game the system and needs CONSTANT updates.
-Automation (learning algorithms): People can feed it with wrong information and cause it to not work in the intended way.
-Top-down moderation: People can just set up their own website, or migrate to another existing site that is not under the control of whoever is in charge.
-Laws: Have your stuff hosted where it is harder to enforce or isn't even banned at all.
It isn't just copyright law that is struggling to enforce, any law that pertains to the internet are on the same boat.
They're just trying to create a medicine that they didn't know doesn't cure the piracy problem, it is a medicine with nasty side effects, that a user uploaded something that was previously taken down, and the OSP may not know this have occurred (and bypasses any potential automated filtering system) , and the platform gets in trouble.
And they claim they “love libraries”. A more honest speech right there is to add “to exploit” between the two words. Like how EA exploits its players, especially the ones vulnerable to addiction, to get them to spend on “surprise mechanics”.
If they can sue you, the reader, for giving a book to somebody else, they would.
On the post: Missouri Governor Doubles Down On 'View Source' Hacking Claim; PAC Now Fundraising Over This Bizarrely Stupid Claim
Re: This person should be fired for saying this is hacking
Yeah, so much for “protection”
On the post: Missouri Governor Doubles Down On 'View Source' Hacking Claim; PAC Now Fundraising Over This Bizarrely Stupid Claim
Imagine if site owner that disables right click tries to 1201...
full title (due to character limit): Imagine if site owner that disables right click tries to 1201 claim the web inspector.
So much for “effective technical protection measures”
On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Tumblr's Approach To Adult Content (2013)
Re: Re: the algorithms...
Agree, this is just as bad as dropbox's setting public folders to private a while later AFTER they were posted, for users going inactive in the future. Not good for posterity. Even worse is that they prohibited the wayback machine from saving those links (excluded).
Scunthorpe problem, but NSFW images instead of swear words.
On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Tumblr's Approach To Adult Content (2013)
the algorithms...
Techdirt, you forgot to mention that 2018, tumblr enforced that NSFW ban using algorithms, which resulted hundreds of innocent posts being flagged since image are context-based.
if the users of those posts flagged are inactive, they may be gone forever.
On the post: CIA, NSA Block Ads Network-Wide To Protect Agencies. Ron Wyden Says Rest Of Gov't Should Do The Same.
Some ads autoredirect, others opens tabs when clicking anywhere.
Some ads may auto-redirect when visiting the page or a few seconds after the page is loaded, however others may perform unexpected action when clicking anywhere on the page (even if you click on non-ad content such as links to another page within the website).
This situation often opens the intended target page URL in a new tab with the current tab going to the ad page. Effectively this is the tab version of pop-unders.
This BS happens a lot on file hosting sites like mediafire, some adult art sites like rule34, and some other sketchy sites.
One dirty trick to avoid this is by visiting the site, turn on airplane mode, click the link, close the suspicious tabs it opened (cannot load content because no internet connection), go to the tab of the target link, turn off airplane mode and refresh.
On the post: CIA, NSA Block Ads Network-Wide To Protect Agencies. Ron Wyden Says Rest Of Gov't Should Do The Same.
Ads are more of an annoyance if it is on a non-browser software
If it is an ad on a webpage that it is sandboxed within a browser in which that is acting as a user-agent (such as firefox, edge, or google chrome), at least the user have some control.
but when it comes to other software (often proprietary and not acting as a user's agent, unlike browsers) to run advertisement, the shady developers is the one that can force shady or outright intrusive behavior against the user.
Take for example, Microsoft's solitaire, for windows 10. While not malicious on its own, but it has ACCESS TO THE VOLUME DRIVERS, in an attempt to play them at full blast, and evading the user's ability to mute or lower the volume via separate volume drivers. Like what the actual fuck. Go look for open source alternatives, folks. Microsoft really betrayed its users on that one. How dare you microsoft for purposely allowing this.
Another example are ads within mobile games. Dark patterns glore, from fake hairs to even some video ads redirecting the user to the app/play store automatically without even touching the device
In these situations, instead of blocking ads within the software (which is possible on browsers, but may require hacking the software to disable ads), how about blocking them at the network level? Enter pi-hole
On the post: Content Moderation Beyond Platforms: A Rubric
Re: Re: The internet is a mixture of good and bad...
...for copyright. PLZ techdirt, let me edit my posted comments.
On the post: Content Moderation Beyond Platforms: A Rubric
Re: The internet is a mixture of good and bad...
Silly mistake, I mean movie companies, not record labels. Confused the two because they're draconian maximalist lobbyists.
On the post: Content Moderation Beyond Platforms: A Rubric
The internet is a mixture of good and bad...
The internet is a mixture of good and bad, it is stupid to nuke just because one thing on it is “bad”.
Also give praise to Hurricane Electric for standing up against the demands of the record labels. They KNEW that it is a f**cked up idea that a huge service with huge number of customers to be obligated to terminate an entire group of customers (because customers of customers, meaning one representative on behalf of hundreds of others).
ANYTHING can be abused, both product and services. To those who believe that the intermediaries should also be the police on things that should be the site's duty (like removing infringing content off the page) is an idiot. You might as well ban chair companies because chairs can be used as a weapon to harm others, or sue electric companies for serving electricity to the criminal's house in which that person is attempting to hack other's PC, and go to war against
On the post: Welcome To The New Techdirt Greenhouse Panel: Content Moderation At The Infrastructure Level
Even more examples
“However, as the technology evolved, we increasingly saw the legacy entertainment companies recognize that they could get more bang for the buck by targeting infrastructure intermediaries.”
Especially this
“They can't remove just the "bad" content. They can only remove (or, at least threaten to remove) all service, which can wreak havoc on a site. And we've seen how that pressure can be used to extreme ends.”
Yep
This is TheMysterousMrEnter's technocracy episode on Tumblr specifically about top-down moderation, nuke the entire service if it has one bad thing on it.
On the post: China's New Youth Online Gaming Restrictions Birth Underground Workaround Industry To Defeat It
Just wow
It's annoying that even basic things you have to enter such personal information. Even worse is when this applies to ALL games, not just games that horrid monetization schemes (microtransactions, loot boxes, etc.).
Thank goodness that it requires something in the physical world, a place where digital cannot effectively detect such things.
On the post: Techdirt Podcast Episode 297: The Future Of Libraries
Actually...
According to this torrentfreak article: https://torrentfreak.com/you-cant-defend-public-libraries-and-oppose-file-sharing-150510/
Publishers hated libraries since before the beginning of copyright law:
But sadly:
Like a forgotten concept of why copyright allows libraries to loan out books.
Libraries actually predate copyright.
On the post: Music Groups Waste No Time Using Australia's New Copyright Law To Shut Down Stream Ripping Sites
Re: Re: Re: Re:
I know this is a few years late, but in case anyone knows what is he referring to “particular subroutine on a webpage” is probably disabling right-clicks, selection, F12 and many other user actions associated with with copying text. This “DRM” is very trivial to bypass:
-Firefox's shift right-click
-Inspect element can be opened in ways that JS cannot event-listen to, such as being on another site/page, F12, then visit the “DRM”'ed site (the devtools remain open across pages) or just the menu bar.
There are good reasons why website code cannot access such browser features like these:
-It is on the user's browser and PC. When visiting a site, the user's device sends a request to a server and the server will send the website data back.
-Letting sites control your browser is a security risk. The closest into doing that or at least attempted to exploit bugs at a certain degree are tech support scam sites which often perform browlocking techiques (such as preventing you from leaving the page)
Thankfully 1201 stated that the DRM have to be “effective”, and must be primarily designed to bypass restrictions to warrent its enforcement, which is probably why they cannot sue browsers for having an inspect element feature and many others.
On the post: Sony Music Says DNS Service Is Implicated In Copyright Infringement At The Domains It Resolves
“malware”
“trying to protect millions of users around the world from malware and phishing, and receiving nothing in return.”
It reminds me of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal Yes, the same company that used malware-esque tactics in the name of copyright enforcement.
On the post: Indie Game Dev Decides To Leave Industry Due To Steam Returns On Short Game
Re: Crybaby nonsense
Nba2k18 FORCES the player to wait 2+ hours of unskipable cutscenes so that players who experienced the gameplay can’t refund it.
On the post: Twitch Finally Gets Around To Letting Banned Streamers Know Why They Were Banned
Finally they added transperency to the user?!?
So incompetent, previously allowing out-of-control anonymous takedowns. Just wow they finally did it.
On the post: UFC COO Publicly Pushing 'Notice And Stay Down' Reforms To DMCA, Despite That Being Horrible For Almost Everyone
They should ask themselves...
“How do you make content stay down?”
“Will platforms REMEMBER the same content that got reposted elsewhere and to take those down as well?”
These copyright industry don't really understand and have not research actual information that “effectively” policing the internet is not possible. TheMysteriousMrEnter highlighted the impossibility of policing content at scale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-dRZ4uB1Mo
-Human moderation: Too slow
-Automation (static algorithms): People can easily bypass/game the system and needs CONSTANT updates.
-Automation (learning algorithms): People can feed it with wrong information and cause it to not work in the intended way.
-Top-down moderation: People can just set up their own website, or migrate to another existing site that is not under the control of whoever is in charge.
-Laws: Have your stuff hosted where it is harder to enforce or isn't even banned at all.
It isn't just copyright law that is struggling to enforce, any law that pertains to the internet are on the same boat.
They're just trying to create a medicine that they didn't know doesn't cure the piracy problem, it is a medicine with nasty side effects, that a user uploaded something that was previously taken down, and the OSP may not know this have occurred (and bypasses any potential automated filtering system) , and the platform gets in trouble.
On the post: Ubisoft Teams Up With Mystery Rights Holder To Remove Fun Fan-Made 'GoldenEye 007' Maps From 'Far Cry'
reminds me of this, a bit
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180927/10154440727/cbs-bullies-fan-star-trek-project-to-shut-dow n-despite-creators-pleas-instructions-being-legit.shtml fuck CBS
On the post: Chief Publishing Lobbyist Maria Pallante Claims Copyright Is 'Under Assault' At Annual Meeting
Re: Re: Translating Pallante's words
forgot also this: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110226/12443313275/harpercollins-wants-to-limit-library-ebook-le nding-to-protect-authors-libraries.shtml
On the post: Chief Publishing Lobbyist Maria Pallante Claims Copyright Is 'Under Assault' At Annual Meeting
Re: Translating Pallante's words
Agreed. They also exploit libraries:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20191108/23524343352/giant-publisher-macmillan-goes-to- war-against-libraries.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120914/12211320384/hachette-hits-lib raries-with-220-price-increase-its-ebooks.shtml
And they claim they “love libraries”. A more honest speech right there is to add “to exploit” between the two words. Like how EA exploits its players, especially the ones vulnerable to addiction, to get them to spend on “surprise mechanics”.
If they can sue you, the reader, for giving a book to somebody else, they would.
Next >>