I haven't seen the video, but I've read enough of the comments here to say that the procedure used was consistent with how the soldiers in the US Army were taught to conduct pat-downs when I was active duty. This is how we were taught to conduct these searches on DETAINEES/SUSPECTED INSURGENTS, not on obvious private citizens.
Those of us who cite facts here are missing, or omitting, something very important with regard to this issue. While these procedures are invasive and time-consuming, as well as taxpayer-dollar-consuming, they do impose the same inconveniences upon would-be smugglers of weapons and paraphernalia.
That being said, as time passes and new technologies and techniques are being produced, the methods by which we can detect them are going to have to also be advanced in order to remain comparable to the threats, or preferably a few steps ahead.
Pat-downs are so low-tech but fiscally inexpensive that they are accepted by the administration as a 'good' tool. Some would prefer that a checkup be conducted by a licensed medical professional, but how many cases have we seen in recent history in which doctors and dentists have molested their patients? Is it because they stand to lose more, by losing their licenses in addition to serving prison sentences that they choose not to do it? I say, "No."
In the Hollywood presentation that really is an increasingly valid look into our dark future that is known as "Idiocracy", the patients at the hospital were required to insert three probes to receive a proper diagnosis. In "Star Trek" they used a wonderfully non-invasive (at least not physically invasive) tool called a Tri-Corder. Every time people needed to be screened for ANYTHING, it isn't a far stretch to say that they also received a much more complete medical checkup, to include DNA screenings and brain-pattern matchings, at nearly every turn.
Personally, if I'm getting patted down by an attractive member of the opposite sex, a patting down might be fun, but I think I'd like something more like a Tri-Corder in the future. And as long as there are physical probes involved, I think I'd prefer the pat-down.
But that's my personal opinion. My wife doesn't want to be patted down. My 11 year old daughter doesn't want to be patted down, nor do I want her to be. My 4 year old and 4 month old sons don't need to be patted down, and I don't want them to be either.
So should I have to drive or take a train from Arizona to Georgia so my two older children can see their mother, but not be exposed to pat-downs or 3D nude imaging? That's hardly fair. I would burn up a week's worth of time off just to travel there and back, not to mention the gas money, wear and tear on my car, hotel stays, and fast food costs all of which are increased because it takes several days to make the trip, and we'd all drive each other nuts in the process. So no, I'll opt for the pat-down because I'm legally bound to let my cheating ex-wife spend time with the kids, and not because I think they are necessary for our safety, even if properly conducted.
We ARE slowly but with a rapidly increasing intensity, moving toward a police-state and as we do so, certain freedoms are being truncated in order to preserve others. Its sad. I think THAT was the motivation behind many terrorist attacks in the first place, because we Americans gloat about our many freedoms so profusely that others in this world become sick of us and decide to ram some humility down our throats, or up our rears, and our reaction to their misplaced hostility is to tighten our sphincters.
Remember my name, Mike, and you Techdirt fans should too. I am planning a move into politics, not because I like them, but because I'm not afraid to fight our government, from within, to preserve as many freedoms as we can.
I'm a conservative Independent with a STRONG idea of separation of church and state, freedom of information, and most importantly, I support government OF the People and FOR the People, and I will campaign against laws that make it illegal to observe and record government officials while they are acting within the confines of their duties. I will campaign against copyright and patent enforcement and I aim to help devise a new plan to inspire and protect innovation, that isn't self-defeating.
I hope this doesn't prompt any of you to label me a troll in the future. I do value this blog and many of the opinions stated here, even if I disagree with some. Mike, you can tend to be a bit one-sided and somewhat scathing in your titling, but hey, it gets readers, right?
AC#4 Hit this right on the nose. The individuals enforcing these policies don't care. They're not paid to care. They're not even authorized to care. Its the politicians WE put in power who do this and as Americans (those of us that are) WE HAVE THE RIGHT and WE HAVE THE DUTY to challenge them.
What we need is a good old impeachment, to show the public that they are not powerless to challenge this.
I am ALL FOR catching criminal masterminds, terrorists, and the like. I was an Intelligence Analyst in the US Army and I know that we DON'T need to violate the privacy of private citizens in order to pursue the real criminals at borders.
If you look at this as an auction, and if Groupon is simply bidding for keywords in order to raise the bid amount for the San Franciso Tour Company, then it is kinda messed up. One might think that any and all ties between Groupon and anyone who stands to gain from Google gaining revenue should be investigated.
I think Craypion is a much more interesting topic though, in that they apparently don't develop any Android Apps, but they do come up in a search, say, for Second Life, in the Market and when you install their app, you get nothing. The general comments under their 'apps' seem to explain that they are counting the numbers of downloads/installs for certain key words and don't actually provide any real content. That is far more annoying to me than Groupon paying for seemingly irrelevant keywords that make other companies competing for ad space (See? They ARE competitors!) have to shell out a little more cash.
But think about what he'd have to give up to get on the inside. He's too essential to the Android Community. If he were on the inside, he'd most likely have to give up ClockworkMod Recovery and Rom Manager, because all Sony would have to do to shut him up is to begin development of an Anroid powered PSP-Phone. Oh... Wait.
Crap, do any of you even know who Koush is in the Android community? He's got more of a following than Sony does, and he offers his services and software for free, unless you purchase the very inexpensive premium license that unlocks some little-used features that made my Android experience AWESOME.
Koush, if you get wind of this, I loudly applaud you, ClockworkMod Recovery, and Rom Manager. I have your software installed on all my Android devices, and by the way, all my coworkers' devices if they let me help them.
I work in IT. Its true, I do. I'm a huge fan of both Koush and Geohot. All the developers I work with are too, in fact.
And, last time I checked, talent recruiters aren't in the know, regarding legal actions taken by the legal arm of the same company. In fact, had she been in on the whole George Hotz deal, she would have most likely tried to get Sony to hire him to work on a way to meet both his goal of opening PS3 back up to the Other OS option, while also meeting Sony's requirement to prevent pirated software from running on their machines. I hope Sara McRae doesn't get into trouble over this, she was just doing her job, and probably doing it well if she's trying to reach out to Koush, one of the saviors of the Android Community.
I think the easiest way to dumb this argument down is as follows.
Jimmy: "Nuh uUUuHHH. I called it first."
Timmy: "But you did it wrong and I did it better."
Jimmy: "Doesn't matter, I called first. See? I already saidthat and you're not listening. I'm telling the babysitter!"
Timmy: "Go ahead. You're just gonna make a fool of yourself."
A few minutes later.
Jimmy: "Um... Remember when Timmy and I were playing ball outside? It was my idea to play ball, and it was my idea to throw it through the hoop, but Timmy took my ball and put it through the hoop first and that's not fair."
Babysitter: "So did you put the ball in the hoop?"
Jimmy: "Not yet, but if I practice real hard and you make sure that Timmy can't do it until I do it real good, I might have a better chance to do it better and you can really encourage me if you not only make Timmy stand in the corner until I'm done, but if he tries to do it later, he has to give me his snacks after lunch too."
Babysitter: Blinks and ponders whether Jimmy is serious.
Timmy: Puts another three balls through three hoops and cheers, "SWISH!"
Babysitter: "GOOOooo Timmy!"
Jimmy: Stomps off into the other room muttering, "But I did it FIIIiiiirst!"
I hope this entertaining little dialog accurately shows just how juvenile it is to claim patent infringements. The entire US Patent System should be thrown out. We've see too many arguments here, GOOD ARGUMENTS, that it is not only flawed, but self defeating. If I were to take a patent out on drinking water through a glass, then people would be forced to think of other ways to drink water, right? But what about a cup or a bottle? What about a bowl? A garden hose? A fountain? A can?
Fortunately, that all seems too absurd to happen, but that's effectively what did happen. In addition, the supposedly learned people who approved such litigation knew as much about technology as my best friend's dad when we were kids.
Stepdad: "Chris, I told you to take out the trash."
Chris: "In a minute, Dad, I want to finish this level."
Stepdad: Turns off the TV, "No, I said now!"
Chris: Pauses the game, "Dad, I told you, simply turning off the TV doesn't turn off my game console."
Later:
Chris: "Dad, do you want me to hook up the VCR to the living room TV so we can all watch the movie?"
Stepdad: "No, I don't want you to mess up the TV."
Me: "It won't mess it up. We've done this hundreds of times, at my house, here, at Phil's house, my aunt's house. Its just a simple coaxial connection.
Chris: Turns off the TV and the cable box, then unscrews the cable box from the TV.
Stepdad: Wonders what else is on and picks up the remote, turning on the TV. The TV displays static and plays loud noise. "SEEEE? You broke my TV!"
Me: Plugs the Cable box into the VCR then the VCR into the TV and picture and sound is restored.
Stepdad: "Chris, get away from the TV and let Will do it. He knows what he's doing."
Me: "Ummm, Ron, you know Chris is the one who showed me how to do this, right?"
Stepdad: "It doesn't matter, get out of the way; the game is back on.
Chris and me: "Game? You wanted to watch the movie?!?!?!
Stepdad: "Move the VCR back into my bedroom and you guys can watch it in there."
Now that I'm the same age that Chris' stepdad was then, I can see the humor in all this and I wondered for a moment whether he knew what we were doing and he was just playing stupid, but he did this stuff for YEARS while we were growing up. When I think of the judges who rule on the side of so-called patent holders, thus STIFLING the innovation of others with broad rulings on broad concepts, I think of these stories. Its either that, or they have stock in the companies they side with.
Wait, wait. So if I decide to get drunk and drive, I'm responsible, but if I don't decide to drive until after I'm drunk, I'm not?
I hope this guy never earns a degree in anything. Not only is he a complete idiot, but apparently an illiterate one too.
But sadly, he probably will. In fact, he's probably going to earn that degree and be a Lieutenant in the Army and then we're in a WORLD of hurt because he's leading a platoon and won't listen to his Platoon Sergeant and whips out his 9mm issuing threats to court-marshal the whole platoon for not listening to him.
His Company Commander, unless the company commander is also a moron, will slap him silly, but not until he's done damage to the soldiers in the platoon and gotten his revenge on the Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) by exercising his gift of poor grammar and bad writing style on their NCO Evaluation Reports.
On this, I am speaking from experience. And in my case, the jerks made it all the way to Major!
Evan Stone is an actor who appears in most, if not all, of the porn movies that are parodies of TV classics. Check him out at IMDB.
I can only imagine that the next 'XXX Parody' will feature a courtroom where the judge convicts and sentences the defendants and I'll leave the actual sentences up to the imagination. (My wife is a fan of his, no, really, she is.)
The fact that he has become a lawyer is so unbelievably laughable. I can almost see him doing this with the intent to drop the cases in an attempt to mock the courts and intellectual property law, because he is at least, kind of a funny guy.
Re: Re: This is just one of the many things wrong with the courts
That sounds fair, except that when a more well resourced entity or plaintiff wins a case because the not so well resourced, or at least not so articulate, defendant loses, the defendant has to pay the amount of the judgement, his own legal fees, AND his own legal fees over again.
Also, people would start representing themselves for fear of losing and having to pay double what their legal fees would be without that stipulation. We'd have Judge Judy style cases in the Supreme Courts!
I don't think that this solution would completely stop anything. If anything, I think that this would increase the effectiveness that those extortion law suits have. In your model, the loser has to pay the lower of the two legal fees to the winner. The winner stands to get the judgment and a portion of their own legal fees back while the loser again has to pay all three sums. I'd sure as hell never want to defend myself against a lawyer who may in fact be able to convince a judge that I might be in the wrong.
It might be more fair to add to your model, the losing attorneys must pay their retainer and fees to the winning attorneys so that the loser is only out the legal fees and the judgement. THAT might have a more desired effect; that the lawyers won't take a case they think they might lose, and they will be more inclined to work harder to win because they are competing for business (revenue).
I agree that if a plaintiff loses a case in court, the legal fees charged to the defendant should be charged to the plaintiff, but I disagree that our courts should deny any case be filed because the consequences are potentially far worse than having stupid cases filed.
I think this SHOULD go to a Supreme Court hearing by default, simply because he's a Senator. His position alone should require a hearing and more importantly; his sentence should carry the weight of a Supreme Court ruling.
There must be more to the story, such as the senator was investigating some alleged wrongdoing by the builder, or perhaps he was attempting to manipulate the homeowners in some way.
The lesson here should be, don't do anyone any favors. Press charges, no matter whom they are, because even those we elect to positions within our government may come back to get you and punish you for your kindness and/or forgiveness.
I hope this man rots in prison and we get to see him get it handed back to him on the next season of Lockdown.
What if an Illinois cop records a (higher) government official? Do to the members of the Illinois National Guard also have this protection? What about other governmental officials NOT under the employ of the state of Illinois?
I can see a plausible justification; that recording a government official CAN discredit the law enforcement agency or office/administration that the official works for.
However, enforcement of the law itself does more to discredit the entire government of Illinois in the eyes of the people.
Since when is the government supposed to be here to serve the government? I thought the government was here to serve the people?
This 'law' should be repealed, or at least amended to state that should officers be recorded violating the laws or even improperly enforcing them, that they should be placed on an immediate paid suspension and all such judgments against the citizens should be overturned with reparations made.
I HATE when Police, Firefighters, etc. refer to those whom are NOT part of their organizations as civilians. They are too. Unless you're the President/Vice President of the USA, a member of the NSA, CIA, FBI, Homeland Defense, etc. or a member of the Armed Forces, meaning Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, or Coast Guard, then you're a civilian. If you're a civilian working FOR one of those agencies then you're still a civilian, no matter what your job title is. I am an Army retiree and I am now a civilian. I love the police, fire departments (except those jackasses who let houses out of district burn down if they owner hasn't paid the premium) and other local law enforcement and protection agencies, but YOU ARE ALL CIVILIANS TOO. Funny thing is, they're not all citizens though.
Illinois is all kinds of jacked up these days and I'm glad I've never even been there.
Its funny how the term originated to mean the OPPOSITE! A civilian was SUPPOSED to mean Civil Servant. What the hell are police, judges and lawyers if not civil servants? "To Serve and Protect " is more accurate a motto.
I think he was screwing around when he asked for the original patent and then figured out that with this stunt he can get in on the patent/copyright wars and make a name for himself. If he wins, he can gain clients. If he loses, he can still gain clients because he will know more about the system.
Even still, didn't IRC have famous people chat LONG before this?
What about SMS/MMS?
What about collaborative appearance on television and radio?
What about summits and conferences?
Not only is this proof that the USPTO is nothing more than a registry service, but so is the friggin' American Bar Association!
I still wonder if cases like this are not created just so lawyers can justify their existence, and their budget, to the management.
I envision a situation in which the head of a firm or a company legal department is faced with budget cuts and has his team burn the midnight oil running keyword searches on as many sites as possible, trying to find possible hits. The next scene in my head is one where that lawyer trumps everything up to a board and they collectively decide to fight a battle that the lawyer knows is a losing battle but who cares? The lawyer will get paid either way.
@ Goldstar25 - Thank you for that. I was waiting to get home to log in and see for myself. Does Ozimals allow you to use feed and such from other vendors? That Wordpress site you referred me to is also very one-sided. As a former Intelligence Analyst and a decent researcher I can't form an opinion as to whom is guilty of exactly what.
I probably won't buy anything from either company because I don't want to raise animals, not because I don't feel like I can trust either. DCS2 is more my speed and I haven't seen any problems in Dimentox's activities.
Setting your prices at just under your competition's prices and then refusing to pay for advertising in a particular market to recoup isn't illegal, nor is it unfair.
What happens to all this virtual property, land, and money when Linden Research decides to halt operations?
Re: First Amendment Invocation is Specious Edge-Casing
I hope you don't mean ME. If I misrepresented myself and my position, please let me clarify.
I love Techdirt. Second Life articles are my absolute favorite because the topic intrigues me.
I would agree with you that it should be the Lindens who determine which content to publish, and not the courts, but for for The Lindens to do that with no possible recourse for affected parties could severely diminish the freedoms that a large portion of SL Residents have enjoyed for years.
The more Linden Dollars people purchase in order to buy breeding animals and their feed, the more US Dollars Linden makes. I'm all for that. In fact, the only thing I wish Linden could do better than they already do, is cut down on lag, but do so while increasing the amount of prims and scripts allowable in a certain area by a factor of ten or more.
Oh, and having been a Second Life 'resident' for 3 years, I know personally how deceitful and scheming people get with the anonymity of their avatars and there are people in Second Life who are FAR more devious and prone to conspiracies than even found in the US Government.
Ozimals charges WAY too much for their products, and a quick search of the SL Marketplace resulted in absolutely nothing from Amaretto Ranch Breedables, but quite a bit from Ozimals. All the breedable horse results are far less organized and less advertised than Ozimals and in the absense of Amaretto's presence, I would not put it past the residents of SL to have done this for the intent to crush the competition.
That being said, how is this practice any different from the real world?
On the post: TSA Gropes 6-Year Old Girl: Says It's Okay Since It Followed Standard Operating Procedure
On the post: TSA Gropes 6-Year Old Girl: Says It's Okay Since It Followed Standard Operating Procedure
Those of us who cite facts here are missing, or omitting, something very important with regard to this issue. While these procedures are invasive and time-consuming, as well as taxpayer-dollar-consuming, they do impose the same inconveniences upon would-be smugglers of weapons and paraphernalia.
That being said, as time passes and new technologies and techniques are being produced, the methods by which we can detect them are going to have to also be advanced in order to remain comparable to the threats, or preferably a few steps ahead.
Pat-downs are so low-tech but fiscally inexpensive that they are accepted by the administration as a 'good' tool. Some would prefer that a checkup be conducted by a licensed medical professional, but how many cases have we seen in recent history in which doctors and dentists have molested their patients? Is it because they stand to lose more, by losing their licenses in addition to serving prison sentences that they choose not to do it? I say, "No."
In the Hollywood presentation that really is an increasingly valid look into our dark future that is known as "Idiocracy", the patients at the hospital were required to insert three probes to receive a proper diagnosis. In "Star Trek" they used a wonderfully non-invasive (at least not physically invasive) tool called a Tri-Corder. Every time people needed to be screened for ANYTHING, it isn't a far stretch to say that they also received a much more complete medical checkup, to include DNA screenings and brain-pattern matchings, at nearly every turn.
Personally, if I'm getting patted down by an attractive member of the opposite sex, a patting down might be fun, but I think I'd like something more like a Tri-Corder in the future. And as long as there are physical probes involved, I think I'd prefer the pat-down.
But that's my personal opinion. My wife doesn't want to be patted down. My 11 year old daughter doesn't want to be patted down, nor do I want her to be. My 4 year old and 4 month old sons don't need to be patted down, and I don't want them to be either.
So should I have to drive or take a train from Arizona to Georgia so my two older children can see their mother, but not be exposed to pat-downs or 3D nude imaging? That's hardly fair. I would burn up a week's worth of time off just to travel there and back, not to mention the gas money, wear and tear on my car, hotel stays, and fast food costs all of which are increased because it takes several days to make the trip, and we'd all drive each other nuts in the process. So no, I'll opt for the pat-down because I'm legally bound to let my cheating ex-wife spend time with the kids, and not because I think they are necessary for our safety, even if properly conducted.
We ARE slowly but with a rapidly increasing intensity, moving toward a police-state and as we do so, certain freedoms are being truncated in order to preserve others. Its sad. I think THAT was the motivation behind many terrorist attacks in the first place, because we Americans gloat about our many freedoms so profusely that others in this world become sick of us and decide to ram some humility down our throats, or up our rears, and our reaction to their misplaced hostility is to tighten our sphincters.
Remember my name, Mike, and you Techdirt fans should too. I am planning a move into politics, not because I like them, but because I'm not afraid to fight our government, from within, to preserve as many freedoms as we can.
I'm a conservative Independent with a STRONG idea of separation of church and state, freedom of information, and most importantly, I support government OF the People and FOR the People, and I will campaign against laws that make it illegal to observe and record government officials while they are acting within the confines of their duties. I will campaign against copyright and patent enforcement and I aim to help devise a new plan to inspire and protect innovation, that isn't self-defeating.
I hope this doesn't prompt any of you to label me a troll in the future. I do value this blog and many of the opinions stated here, even if I disagree with some. Mike, you can tend to be a bit one-sided and somewhat scathing in your titling, but hey, it gets readers, right?
On the post: Feds: 4th Amendment Shouldn't Apply To Online Emails Because... That Would Make Us Have To Work Harder
Re: Re: Really?
What we need is a good old impeachment, to show the public that they are not powerless to challenge this.
I am ALL FOR catching criminal masterminds, terrorists, and the like. I was an Intelligence Analyst in the US Army and I know that we DON'T need to violate the privacy of private citizens in order to pursue the real criminals at borders.
On the post: Groupon Sued For Its Google AdWords
I think Craypion is a much more interesting topic though, in that they apparently don't develop any Android Apps, but they do come up in a search, say, for Second Life, in the Market and when you install their app, you get nothing. The general comments under their 'apps' seem to explain that they are counting the numbers of downloads/installs for certain key words and don't actually provide any real content. That is far more annoying to me than Groupon paying for seemingly irrelevant keywords that make other companies competing for ad space (See? They ARE competitors!) have to shell out a little more cash.
On the post: Top Hacker Rejects Job Offer From Sony Over PS3 Jailbreak Legal Strategy
But think about what he'd have to give up to get on the inside. He's too essential to the Android Community. If he were on the inside, he'd most likely have to give up ClockworkMod Recovery and Rom Manager, because all Sony would have to do to shut him up is to begin development of an Anroid powered PSP-Phone. Oh... Wait.
On the post: Top Hacker Rejects Job Offer From Sony Over PS3 Jailbreak Legal Strategy
Koush, if you get wind of this, I loudly applaud you, ClockworkMod Recovery, and Rom Manager. I have your software installed on all my Android devices, and by the way, all my coworkers' devices if they let me help them.
I work in IT. Its true, I do. I'm a huge fan of both Koush and Geohot. All the developers I work with are too, in fact.
And, last time I checked, talent recruiters aren't in the know, regarding legal actions taken by the legal arm of the same company. In fact, had she been in on the whole George Hotz deal, she would have most likely tried to get Sony to hire him to work on a way to meet both his goal of opening PS3 back up to the Other OS option, while also meeting Sony's requirement to prevent pirated software from running on their machines. I hope Sara McRae doesn't get into trouble over this, she was just doing her job, and probably doing it well if she's trying to reach out to Koush, one of the saviors of the Android Community.
On the post: Microsoft Continues Its Backdoor Legal Fight Against Android: Sues Barnes & Noble Over Nook
Jimmy: "Nuh uUUuHHH. I called it first."
Timmy: "But you did it wrong and I did it better."
Jimmy: "Doesn't matter, I called first. See? I already saidthat and you're not listening. I'm telling the babysitter!"
Timmy: "Go ahead. You're just gonna make a fool of yourself."
A few minutes later.
Jimmy: "Um... Remember when Timmy and I were playing ball outside? It was my idea to play ball, and it was my idea to throw it through the hoop, but Timmy took my ball and put it through the hoop first and that's not fair."
Babysitter: "So did you put the ball in the hoop?"
Jimmy: "Not yet, but if I practice real hard and you make sure that Timmy can't do it until I do it real good, I might have a better chance to do it better and you can really encourage me if you not only make Timmy stand in the corner until I'm done, but if he tries to do it later, he has to give me his snacks after lunch too."
Babysitter: Blinks and ponders whether Jimmy is serious.
Timmy: Puts another three balls through three hoops and cheers, "SWISH!"
Babysitter: "GOOOooo Timmy!"
Jimmy: Stomps off into the other room muttering, "But I did it FIIIiiiirst!"
I hope this entertaining little dialog accurately shows just how juvenile it is to claim patent infringements. The entire US Patent System should be thrown out. We've see too many arguments here, GOOD ARGUMENTS, that it is not only flawed, but self defeating. If I were to take a patent out on drinking water through a glass, then people would be forced to think of other ways to drink water, right? But what about a cup or a bottle? What about a bowl? A garden hose? A fountain? A can?
Fortunately, that all seems too absurd to happen, but that's effectively what did happen. In addition, the supposedly learned people who approved such litigation knew as much about technology as my best friend's dad when we were kids.
Stepdad: "Chris, I told you to take out the trash."
Chris: "In a minute, Dad, I want to finish this level."
Stepdad: Turns off the TV, "No, I said now!"
Chris: Pauses the game, "Dad, I told you, simply turning off the TV doesn't turn off my game console."
Later:
Chris: "Dad, do you want me to hook up the VCR to the living room TV so we can all watch the movie?"
Stepdad: "No, I don't want you to mess up the TV."
Me: "It won't mess it up. We've done this hundreds of times, at my house, here, at Phil's house, my aunt's house. Its just a simple coaxial connection.
Chris: Turns off the TV and the cable box, then unscrews the cable box from the TV.
Stepdad: Wonders what else is on and picks up the remote, turning on the TV. The TV displays static and plays loud noise. "SEEEE? You broke my TV!"
Me: Plugs the Cable box into the VCR then the VCR into the TV and picture and sound is restored.
Stepdad: "Chris, get away from the TV and let Will do it. He knows what he's doing."
Me: "Ummm, Ron, you know Chris is the one who showed me how to do this, right?"
Stepdad: "It doesn't matter, get out of the way; the game is back on.
Chris and me: "Game? You wanted to watch the movie?!?!?!
Stepdad: "Move the VCR back into my bedroom and you guys can watch it in there."
Now that I'm the same age that Chris' stepdad was then, I can see the humor in all this and I wondered for a moment whether he knew what we were doing and he was just playing stupid, but he did this stuff for YEARS while we were growing up. When I think of the judges who rule on the side of so-called patent holders, thus STIFLING the innovation of others with broad rulings on broad concepts, I think of these stories. Its either that, or they have stock in the companies they side with.
On the post: If You're Unhappy With The Prostitute You Hire, Perhaps Don't Call The Police... And Then Sue The Escort Company
I hope this guy never earns a degree in anything. Not only is he a complete idiot, but apparently an illiterate one too.
But sadly, he probably will. In fact, he's probably going to earn that degree and be a Lieutenant in the Army and then we're in a WORLD of hurt because he's leading a platoon and won't listen to his Platoon Sergeant and whips out his 9mm issuing threats to court-marshal the whole platoon for not listening to him.
His Company Commander, unless the company commander is also a moron, will slap him silly, but not until he's done damage to the soldiers in the platoon and gotten his revenge on the Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) by exercising his gift of poor grammar and bad writing style on their NCO Evaluation Reports.
On this, I am speaking from experience. And in my case, the jerks made it all the way to Major!
On the post: Mass Copyright Lawsuit Lawyer Petulantly Drops Lawsuit After Called Out For Apparent Ethics Violations
On the post: Mass Copyright Lawsuit Lawyer Petulantly Drops Lawsuit After Called Out For Apparent Ethics Violations
Evan Stone is a porn actor himself
I can only imagine that the next 'XXX Parody' will feature a courtroom where the judge convicts and sentences the defendants and I'll leave the actual sentences up to the imagination. (My wife is a fan of his, no, really, she is.)
The fact that he has become a lawyer is so unbelievably laughable. I can almost see him doing this with the intent to drop the cases in an attempt to mock the courts and intellectual property law, because he is at least, kind of a funny guy.
On the post: Sony PS3 Hacker Gagged
On the post: Politician Trespasses Into House Under Construction, Breaks Leg... Sues Owners
Re: Re: This is just one of the many things wrong with the courts
Also, people would start representing themselves for fear of losing and having to pay double what their legal fees would be without that stipulation. We'd have Judge Judy style cases in the Supreme Courts!
I don't think that this solution would completely stop anything. If anything, I think that this would increase the effectiveness that those extortion law suits have. In your model, the loser has to pay the lower of the two legal fees to the winner. The winner stands to get the judgment and a portion of their own legal fees back while the loser again has to pay all three sums. I'd sure as hell never want to defend myself against a lawyer who may in fact be able to convince a judge that I might be in the wrong.
It might be more fair to add to your model, the losing attorneys must pay their retainer and fees to the winning attorneys so that the loser is only out the legal fees and the judgement. THAT might have a more desired effect; that the lawyers won't take a case they think they might lose, and they will be more inclined to work harder to win because they are competing for business (revenue).
On the post: Politician Trespasses Into House Under Construction, Breaks Leg... Sues Owners
I think this SHOULD go to a Supreme Court hearing by default, simply because he's a Senator. His position alone should require a hearing and more importantly; his sentence should carry the weight of a Supreme Court ruling.
There must be more to the story, such as the senator was investigating some alleged wrongdoing by the builder, or perhaps he was attempting to manipulate the homeowners in some way.
The lesson here should be, don't do anyone any favors. Press charges, no matter whom they are, because even those we elect to positions within our government may come back to get you and punish you for your kindness and/or forgiveness.
I hope this man rots in prison and we get to see him get it handed back to him on the next season of Lockdown.
On the post: Woman Arrested For Recording Attempt To Report Police Officer Who Sexually Assaulted Her
I can see a plausible justification; that recording a government official CAN discredit the law enforcement agency or office/administration that the official works for.
However, enforcement of the law itself does more to discredit the entire government of Illinois in the eyes of the people.
Since when is the government supposed to be here to serve the government? I thought the government was here to serve the people?
This 'law' should be repealed, or at least amended to state that should officers be recorded violating the laws or even improperly enforcing them, that they should be placed on an immediate paid suspension and all such judgments against the citizens should be overturned with reparations made.
I HATE when Police, Firefighters, etc. refer to those whom are NOT part of their organizations as civilians. They are too. Unless you're the President/Vice President of the USA, a member of the NSA, CIA, FBI, Homeland Defense, etc. or a member of the Armed Forces, meaning Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, or Coast Guard, then you're a civilian. If you're a civilian working FOR one of those agencies then you're still a civilian, no matter what your job title is. I am an Army retiree and I am now a civilian. I love the police, fire departments (except those jackasses who let houses out of district burn down if they owner hasn't paid the premium) and other local law enforcement and protection agencies, but YOU ARE ALL CIVILIANS TOO. Funny thing is, they're not all citizens though.
Illinois is all kinds of jacked up these days and I'm glad I've never even been there.
Its funny how the term originated to mean the OPPOSITE! A civilian was SUPPOSED to mean Civil Servant. What the hell are police, judges and lawyers if not civil servants? "To Serve and Protect " is more accurate a motto.
On the post: Letting Famous People Interact Online? Patented! Twitter Sued
Even still, didn't IRC have famous people chat LONG before this?
What about SMS/MMS?
What about collaborative appearance on television and radio?
What about summits and conferences?
Not only is this proof that the USPTO is nothing more than a registry service, but so is the friggin' American Bar Association!
On the post: Sony Gets Restraining Order Against Guy Who Restored PS3 Feature Sony Deleted
On the post: Monster Cable Issues Yet Another Bogus DMCA Notice To A Search Engine
I envision a situation in which the head of a firm or a company legal department is faced with budget cuts and has his team burn the midnight oil running keyword searches on as many sites as possible, trying to find possible hits. The next scene in my head is one where that lawyer trumps everything up to a board and they collectively decide to fight a battle that the lawyer knows is a losing battle but who cares? The lawyer will get paid either way.
On the post: Second Life Dragged Into Legal Dispute Over Copyright Of Virtual Horses And Virtual Bunnies
I probably won't buy anything from either company because I don't want to raise animals, not because I don't feel like I can trust either. DCS2 is more my speed and I haven't seen any problems in Dimentox's activities.
Setting your prices at just under your competition's prices and then refusing to pay for advertising in a particular market to recoup isn't illegal, nor is it unfair.
What happens to all this virtual property, land, and money when Linden Research decides to halt operations?
On the post: Second Life Dragged Into Legal Dispute Over Copyright Of Virtual Horses And Virtual Bunnies
Re: First Amendment Invocation is Specious Edge-Casing
I love Techdirt. Second Life articles are my absolute favorite because the topic intrigues me.
I would agree with you that it should be the Lindens who determine which content to publish, and not the courts, but for for The Lindens to do that with no possible recourse for affected parties could severely diminish the freedoms that a large portion of SL Residents have enjoyed for years.
The more Linden Dollars people purchase in order to buy breeding animals and their feed, the more US Dollars Linden makes. I'm all for that. In fact, the only thing I wish Linden could do better than they already do, is cut down on lag, but do so while increasing the amount of prims and scripts allowable in a certain area by a factor of ten or more.
On the post: Second Life Dragged Into Legal Dispute Over Copyright Of Virtual Horses And Virtual Bunnies
Re: Second Life
Ozimals charges WAY too much for their products, and a quick search of the SL Marketplace resulted in absolutely nothing from Amaretto Ranch Breedables, but quite a bit from Ozimals. All the breedable horse results are far less organized and less advertised than Ozimals and in the absense of Amaretto's presence, I would not put it past the residents of SL to have done this for the intent to crush the competition.
That being said, how is this practice any different from the real world?
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