Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 10 May 2018 @ 7:40pm
Re: Unfair competition for the top slot that
We remember that the USTR is paid, vicariously as their appointments are made by elected officials who receive bribes (a.k.a. campaign contributions), and stand to gain from post appointment employment (and possibly other means) to do what their benefactors desire, rather than the business of the people. Those benefactors are gatekeepers, not creators. Those that scream that 'pirating is killing creators' tend not to mention who holds the copyrights of the creators. It is often not the creator.
This whole Internet thingy, where one can publish their own works and retain their copyrights, is a threat to those gatekeepers. That is why those gatekeepers spend so much 'graft' money to protect THEIR interests. They could give a damn about creators.
To those who then argue that the gatekeepers provide valuable assistance to creators need to understand two things. The the first is Hollywood Accounting™ owned by Hollywood Accountants et. al.. The second is that all that valuable assistance is available directly to the creators without giving up ones copyright. Yes it might have to be paid for. But if your creation is valuable, and you cannot provide those things considered assistance on your own, it may be just part of doing business. And if your creation isn't valuable, then a lesson is learned about how value is created, or not.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 10 May 2018 @ 7:02pm
Re: Re: Iran is going to cease to exist
Yes the CIA fucked up. Yes it created a mess. But no one here elected those fuck ups. Yes those who 'theoretically' authorized those fuck ups were elected, but they didn't actually tell us that they were about to fuck up yet another country, or that they had already fucked up some others up and were about to fuck up a few more.
So, while we might have some blame in the game, so to speak, the situation in Iran is not entirely our fault. It has been exacerbated by an extreme regime that came into being by replacing an extreme regime that was implemented by some dunderheads that thought they might...well what do we know what they thought about, or more properly didn't think about, when they went in and fucked up another country?
The solution, very, very simplified, is for Iran to become less extreme. Us too!
I know some very nice Iranian people. Some are Muslim, some are Christian. None of them are extreme. But when you have a party, they don't bring coolers with beer. They bring coolers with Stoli! :-)
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 9 May 2018 @ 1:13pm
Criminal instruction for corporations
A new industry. Or maybe an old one. Either way, these companies failed their how to be obtuse classes.
What these companies forgot is to have a cutout. Like Trump did. Trump hired Cohen as his cutout (didn't work very well). These companies should have hired another sleazy (insert favorite type of sleazy character here, could be a lawyer, could be someone else's grandmother) to make those payments. The deal is actually done in a dark, empty parking garage at 0 dark thirty in the morning, with untraceable payments made soon after.
With all their practice, you would think they could get this right.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 9 May 2018 @ 9:13am
Re: Re:
"The location of the person requesting their data from that organization is not relevant."
It may not be relevant to you or me, but it is likely relevant to those who wish to profit in some way from the information. That group might include several governments, who in their various points of view, want to use such information in very different ways.
If they are going to release the information to anyone, they should send it to the person about which it was collected, and only them. Then it should be destroyed. After that, verifying that is was sent only to the person(s) abused and its destruction would be an almost impossible task.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 8 May 2018 @ 7:24am
Is it communicable?
What is the name of the infliction acquired by recipients of trademarks? It happens to companies as well as individuals. There must be some diagnosis that is common to singular persons as well as groups of people that explains the insane, inappropriate expression of power. Greed just doesn't seem to cover it fully.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 7 May 2018 @ 7:18am
Are we sure it isn't the other way around?
Given the precepts of 'felony interference of a business model' is it possible that the rate hikes are due to the cutting of cords? I mean, those businesses attained a certain level of profit, not per customer, but total profit. Now they feel they deserve to not just maintain that profit, but to increase it, year after year, despite any business conditions.
So the number of customers decrease therefore new charges that don't actually pay for anything new are required to maintain profit levels. In that way, those felons who cut their cord are ameliorated by charging the remaining customers more, and more, and more. Problem solved.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 5 May 2018 @ 8:00am
Re: Re:
Oh, they probably do know what they need to comply with the law at all times, the issues are do they care and/or are they fulfilling a higher authorities approach to authoritarianism.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 4 May 2018 @ 8:52am
Re: Re: Re:
I hear ya. But is there anything, anywhere that says the Supreme Court cannot be wrong? The Constitution says a warrant is required, it says nothing about exceptions, at least so far as the 4th Amendment is concerned. So my reading is that it is in fact a Constitutional violation, and the Supreme Court got it wrong.
Now, what we might do about that is yet another discussion.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 4 May 2018 @ 8:33am
Re: Re:
International powers? Don't give them any ideas. That is, not that they haven't thought about it, they just haven't had the chutzpah to try practicing it yet. They are very jealous of the FBI in this regard.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 4 May 2018 @ 8:19am
Re: Re: Re: Stupid question:
The German roundup ended up being worse, but it had a start. What did that look like?
What is currently going on the the US does look like a start (maybe the same, maybe not) and it is not hard to extrapolate a similar end. Maybe we can change it before it gets too bad, but if we don't, it might become worse than the German roundup.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 3 May 2018 @ 6:32pm
Problems with product names
This may only be tangentially related.
I haven't been in a Starbucks in more than 10 years, but before that I would, occasionally stop by (I preferred Peets, when I didn't make my own). I usually ordered a large coffee, and they would come back to me with their Veni, Vidi, Vici (or whatever) crap, and then I would have to explain to the sap behind the counter that large is not a name, it's not even a noun, it's an adjective, a descriptor and that I could care less (I wasn't always that polite) what THEY named it, what I wanted was large.
So lets say that Family Express gives up calling their donuts square (they certainly cannot be stopped from making them square), they could just start calling them equilateral rectangles. But I, as a customer, would likely ask for a square donut, and Square Donuts Inc. would have nothing to say about it. Then, one has gotta ask, who won?
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 3 May 2018 @ 1:53pm
Just how do these things work?
I wonder how the police went about submitting their DNA samples. One would think that a normal user would send in some biological material, blood, cheek swab, something which the service would then run a DNA test on. What did the police do, send in their evidence and request that any unused portions be returned? Or did they send in the DNA listing from the reports they received after their own labs did the testing? Did the online lab not notice something fishy in the samples or information sent? The police, apparently created an account and at the very least suggested it was their DNA sample or profile that was sent.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 3 May 2018 @ 1:44pm
Maybe, sometime soon, possibly, if we feel like it
What the hell is going on at the FTC? They finally woke up after a 40 year nap? How long a nap will they take before doing something about Telco's and ISP's tacking on charges after quoting a lower price, or for offering benefits like unlimited, that isn't unlimited or requires an unmentioned reduction in bitrate? What other obligations are they remiss in their lack of function?
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 1 May 2018 @ 5:21pm
Re:
They keep claiming 'It's the economy, stupid', but then want to raise taxes to pay for it, or the other side pays for it and raises the national debt while cutting taxes for their friends. I cannot keep track of which one is which as they change their positions so often.
It's not waste when it supports jobs...in my district, so says the politician.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 1 May 2018 @ 4:12pm
Re: Re: Another blast from the past...
Personally, I don't mind ads, that is non intrusive ads, I just don't read them. Those that pop up, or take up the whole screen, or autoplay, or prevent me from doing what I want to do (read the article or view the video) or provide malware are definitely problematic. The problem is, before I visit a site, how would one know? The only safe way is to block them in advance.
Having spent a significant amount of time here at Techdirt, I have unblocked advertising on this site. There still remains some risk that some advertising provider will slip some malware into the ads displayed here, without Techdirts knowledge. That is some potentially significant risk, but I want Techdirt to get the revenue beyond my subscriptions (yes plural, there are two). That risk still worries me.
I am certain that Techdirt does what it can to prevent malware in its ads, but there may not be ability to ensure that, absolutely.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 1 May 2018 @ 4:00pm
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Would you sell tanks equal to what you use to countries that you may develop a desire to invade in the future?
Given the current administration, whom does that preclude?
OK, not given the current administration, but given the vagaries of US foreign policy over the last say 60 years, whom does that preclude? That concept of foreign policy includes our trade negotiation positions.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 1 May 2018 @ 3:52pm
Time will tell
I suspect that there is a bystander willing to snap up this company and run it legitimately, but are waiting for its current owner to fsck up sufficiently to run it into bankruptcy (something that may or may not be likely, but does seem probable) when they will be able to pick it up for a song. And maybe, if negotiated correctly, without any current debt.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 1 May 2018 @ 3:49pm
(sic)
Sometimes I read that as 'sick' in reference to the previous statement, rather than a notation with regards to a misspelling in the original text. Sometimes I'm right.
On the post: As NAFTA Negotiations Finish Up, Hopefully The USTR Remembers That The Internet Has Been Good For Creators Too
Re: Unfair competition for the top slot that
This whole Internet thingy, where one can publish their own works and retain their copyrights, is a threat to those gatekeepers. That is why those gatekeepers spend so much 'graft' money to protect THEIR interests. They could give a damn about creators.
To those who then argue that the gatekeepers provide valuable assistance to creators need to understand two things. The the first is Hollywood Accounting™ owned by Hollywood Accountants et. al.. The second is that all that valuable assistance is available directly to the creators without giving up ones copyright. Yes it might have to be paid for. But if your creation is valuable, and you cannot provide those things considered assistance on your own, it may be just part of doing business. And if your creation isn't valuable, then a lesson is learned about how value is created, or not.
On the post: Iran's President Comes Out Against His Country's Ban On Telegram
Re: Re: Iran is going to cease to exist
So, while we might have some blame in the game, so to speak, the situation in Iran is not entirely our fault. It has been exacerbated by an extreme regime that came into being by replacing an extreme regime that was implemented by some dunderheads that thought they might...well what do we know what they thought about, or more properly didn't think about, when they went in and fucked up another country?
The solution, very, very simplified, is for Iran to become less extreme. Us too!
I know some very nice Iranian people. Some are Muslim, some are Christian. None of them are extreme. But when you have a party, they don't bring coolers with beer. They bring coolers with Stoli! :-)
On the post: AT&T Stumbles As It Tries To Explain Why It Paid $200K To Cohen's Shady Shell Company
Criminal instruction for corporations
What these companies forgot is to have a cutout. Like Trump did. Trump hired Cohen as his cutout (didn't work very well). These companies should have hired another sleazy (insert favorite type of sleazy character here, could be a lawyer, could be someone else's grandmother) to make those payments. The deal is actually done in a dark, empty parking garage at 0 dark thirty in the morning, with untraceable payments made soon after.
With all their practice, you would think they could get this right.
On the post: Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Data Protection? A Troubling Implication Of The American Voter UK Data Protection Case
Re: Re:
It may not be relevant to you or me, but it is likely relevant to those who wish to profit in some way from the information. That group might include several governments, who in their various points of view, want to use such information in very different ways.
If they are going to release the information to anyone, they should send it to the person about which it was collected, and only them. Then it should be destroyed. After that, verifying that is was sent only to the person(s) abused and its destruction would be an almost impossible task.
On the post: Romance Novelist Secures Trademark For Word 'Cocky,' Begins Beating Other Novelists Over The Head With It
Re: Possibly getting competent legal advice at last?
On the post: Romance Novelist Secures Trademark For Word 'Cocky,' Begins Beating Other Novelists Over The Head With It
Is it communicable?
On the post: Cord Cutting Is The Obvious Result Of A 70% Spike In Cable TV Prices Since 2000
Re: Spectrum
Here is a list of cord cutting articles. Read the comments sections where various users spell out how they go about their cord cutting.
On the post: Cord Cutting Is The Obvious Result Of A 70% Spike In Cable TV Prices Since 2000
Are we sure it isn't the other way around?
Given the precepts of 'felony interference of a business model' is it possible that the rate hikes are due to the cutting of cords? I mean, those businesses attained a certain level of profit, not per customer, but total profit. Now they feel they deserve to not just maintain that profit, but to increase it, year after year, despite any business conditions.
So the number of customers decrease therefore new charges that don't actually pay for anything new are required to maintain profit levels. In that way, those felons who cut their cord are ameliorated by charging the remaining customers more, and more, and more. Problem solved.
Except that neither way is actually sustainable.
On the post: ICE Performs Warrantless Raid Of Private Farm; Draws Heat From State And Federal Officials
Re: Re:
On the post: ICE Performs Warrantless Raid Of Private Farm; Draws Heat From State And Federal Officials
Re: Re: Re:
Now, what we might do about that is yet another discussion.
On the post: ICE Performs Warrantless Raid Of Private Farm; Draws Heat From State And Federal Officials
Re: Re:
On the post: ICE Performs Warrantless Raid Of Private Farm; Draws Heat From State And Federal Officials
Re: Re: Re: Stupid question:
What is currently going on the the US does look like a start (maybe the same, maybe not) and it is not hard to extrapolate a similar end. Maybe we can change it before it gets too bad, but if we don't, it might become worse than the German roundup.
On the post: Stupid Square Donuts Trademark Dispute Still Going Strong Despite The Mark Being Purely Descriptive
Problems with product names
I haven't been in a Starbucks in more than 10 years, but before that I would, occasionally stop by (I preferred Peets, when I didn't make my own). I usually ordered a large coffee, and they would come back to me with their Veni, Vidi, Vici (or whatever) crap, and then I would have to explain to the sap behind the counter that large is not a name, it's not even a noun, it's an adjective, a descriptor and that I could care less (I wasn't always that polite) what THEY named it, what I wanted was large.
So lets say that Family Express gives up calling their donuts square (they certainly cannot be stopped from making them square), they could just start calling them equilateral rectangles. But I, as a customer, would likely ask for a square donut, and Square Donuts Inc. would have nothing to say about it. Then, one has gotta ask, who won?
On the post: Cops Aren't Just Submitting DNA Samples To Genealogy Services; They're Also Obtaining Customer Info
Just how do these things work?
On the post: FTC Calls Out Nintendo, Microsoft, And Sony For Their Illegal 'Warranty Void If Removed' Stickers
Maybe, sometime soon, possibly, if we feel like it
On the post: Two-Man Police Department Acquires $1 Million In Military Gear
Re:
It's not waste when it supports jobs...in my district, so says the politician.
On the post: Germany's Supreme Court Confirms That Adblocking Is Legal, In Sixth Consecutive Defeat For Publishers
Re: Re: Another blast from the past...
Having spent a significant amount of time here at Techdirt, I have unblocked advertising on this site. There still remains some risk that some advertising provider will slip some malware into the ads displayed here, without Techdirts knowledge. That is some potentially significant risk, but I want Techdirt to get the revenue beyond my subscriptions (yes plural, there are two). That risk still worries me.
I am certain that Techdirt does what it can to prevent malware in its ads, but there may not be ability to ensure that, absolutely.
On the post: Two-Man Police Department Acquires $1 Million In Military Gear
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Given the current administration, whom does that preclude?
OK, not given the current administration, but given the vagaries of US foreign policy over the last say 60 years, whom does that preclude? That concept of foreign policy includes our trade negotiation positions.
On the post: Suburban Express Sued By Illinois Attorney General For Behaving Like Suburban Express
Time will tell
On the post: Suburban Express Sued By Illinois Attorney General For Behaving Like Suburban Express
(sic)
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