Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 30 Mar 2020 @ 12:50pm
Re:
Actually I think it should be two tiered. Normal health care, not for profit, and elective, where they can charge what the market will bear. There are problems with this idea, one is how to deal with malpractice, and when should cosmetic treatments be considered normal (repairing burns for example rather than other types).
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 30 Mar 2020 @ 11:31am
Re: No shortage of ego-filled administrators
Could it be that these administrators are merely trying to manage risk? Risk of the inevitable lawsuit for when they are exposed as being unprepared, incompetent, or negligent (real or imagined), and those are expensive. After all, it is the administrators purpose to maintain profitability, rather than high medical standards or preparedness. Buying and storing equipment that doesn't have immediate application would be a detriment to the quarterly bottom line.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 30 Mar 2020 @ 10:45am
Re: Re:
It might be reasonable to presume that if White House meetings about the corona virus were classified that all White House functions concerning the corona virus are also classified. It would then follow that at least some of Kusher's emails contain classified information. It isn't his fault that the information was classified, but he was put in the position of dealing with it, and it would be entirely his fault that classified information wound up in private emails. That Kushner was not competent enough to handle the position is Trumps fault for putting him in that position. Both are culpable.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 30 Mar 2020 @ 7:08am
Transparency
If the current White House administration had any interest in being transparent, then they would not have made their meetings about their COVID-19 response classified (meaning we probably won't be able to find out about how badly off track they were for maybe 20 years or so). I suspect that they are either trying to weasel in some backhanded economic stimulus (which won't mean a hill of beans if the spread of the virus does not take a drastic downturn) or they are seriously worried about documenting their missteps in their reaction to the crisis.
Of course, if they were seriously worried about their missteps in reaction to the crisis the really should put a muzzle on the Missteper in Chief.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 28 Mar 2020 @ 6:19am
Re: 'Oh no, not the dreaded finger wag, not again!'
There is a problem in that the courts don't actually have much power. I know that this article at Simple Justice is on another subject, but it nicely points out the dilemma that occurs when a court order is ignored. Trump isn't going to pay any fine. More attempts to oust journalists they don't like from the press room will just use different excuses that will then need to be adjudicated. And it's not like the DoJ will be hounding the White House about their behavior any time soon. Then there is the idea of holding someone at the Executive Branch in contempt and watching the finger pointing as various people pass blame in a circle.
Maybe we should give courts some enforcement power? But then we have seen what power can do to otherwise seemingly intelligent people.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 27 Mar 2020 @ 3:45pm
Re: Re: The cynic in me says...
Dang, I missed that.
Gift cards are one of the best values, for the restaurant, simply because they are often never redeemed. The restaurant gets paid, but has no expenses. A closed restaurant has an even better chance of that card never being redeemed, expiration date, or not.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 27 Mar 2020 @ 12:55pm
Re: I am not holding my breath
And highly unlikely. It is more likely that those whose future employment depends upon 'donations' from big business will determine that strong IP will be necessary to recharge the economy. The fact that moving IP from those big conglomerates to individuals and independents might have a better, broader impact on the economy will be lost on them as the dollars fill their campaign troughs.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 27 Mar 2020 @ 10:56am
Re: May I suggest
One could also suggest they use a different search engine, such as duckduckgo.com. Both the Techdirt stories and Thomas Goolnik and Edward Harris Goolnik stories are still available. At least they were a few minutes ago.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 26 Mar 2020 @ 4:42pm
Re: Re: Re: But what incentive would he have without a patent?
Your right, publicity for altruism is much more valuable than profit from a patent...except for the shareholders. A properly waged PR campaign could set an individual up for a long, long time. Profit will be pulled from a corporation by executives behaving arrogantly, and what they don't scrape out of cash flow will go to shareholders at the quarters end. Not very longstanding at all.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 26 Mar 2020 @ 7:18am
The thought police haven't thought this out
If the effect of predictive policing is that the police cover areas where a crime is 'predicted' to occur then one harm is that the possibility that another area wouldn't be covered as well as it could have been, given limited resources. Another is that people in the covered area could be harassed at inappropriate levels. Neither of those is good.
But I fear that things will go much further, and at least here in the US with the concept of innocent until proven guilty, that rabbit hole will become huge. What will they charge some 'culprit' with, followed by, how would they prove that beyond a reasonable doubt? The fact is, if someone is arrested for 'they are about to commit a crime' that at that point, no crime has been committed. If we are talking about proving conspiracy to commit a crime, that's another thing, however proving conspiracy isn't as easy as 'we thought they were about to xxx'. And, at what level would conspiracy be worthy of investigation. There are things such as a crime of opportunity where no planning actually takes place.
Until time travel becomes a reality, where we can go back a day or so and actually prevent something from happening, predictive policing is just a law enforcement fantasy. And since time travel is unlikely to become a reality anytime soon, predictive policing will remain a law enforcement fantasy, except that they are implementing it anyway, forcing us to live in their fantasy existence. But it isn't their world, at least not yet. It's ours.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 25 Mar 2020 @ 12:19pm
How about some guidelines?
"It also mandates the development of data retention policies and the implementation of reporting and controls of other, non-state agency use of facial recognition tech owned by state entities."
I like this, but I think they should have included some guidelines, or different agencies will choose different retention policies creating a difficulty in understanding what the rules are, and possibly create some overlaps.
As to non-state agencies, it should not matter whether the tech is owned by state entities or not, the same rules should apply, otherwise it will just be another vector for parallel construction, and those retention rules should apply to them as well.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 25 Mar 2020 @ 7:51am
Even though we work for you, we also work for them, and us
The real secret is the deal made with FDA officials for either current or future compensation to allow the 'orphan drug' status to apply. Allowing anyone to know 'when' that status was applied for would lead to additional, uncomfortable, questions about 'why, who, how' and with 'what' justifications in light of all the rest of the evidence. 'Where' isn't important in this context.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 24 Mar 2020 @ 4:20pm
Re:
I am not so sure about that. Section 230, not the 1st Amendment protects them in that regard. Now if Section 230 gets eviscerated they might have to find other ways to control their content, and I suspect that expanded (can they get larger or more obtuse?) TOS's will be their vehicle.
Aside from that, I think the concept of corporate personhood has limitations. While some personal rights might be granted, not all of them are. From Wikipedia:
That bit about the headnote tells us that the precident relied upon was something written by a clerk, not a judge, not a legislator, and not the Supreme Court. Justice Rehnquist was known to have doubts about this.
I do not think corporations should have 1st Amendment rights which is why I get so worked up about the Citizens United decision that granted them permission to speak with their money. Much more money than any of us have, thereby giving them a greater voice amongst voices that are supposed to be equal.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 24 Mar 2020 @ 12:15pm
Goose and gander, meet pot and kettle.
The funny part is he is limiting false statements to Covid-19, but not any politicians campaign promises, or legislative rhetoric when they try to justify some of the crazy things they vote for.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 24 Mar 2020 @ 8:51am
Curiosity kills the cat, again
I know that video is charged with large percentages of Internet traffic volume, but has there ever been a comparison with the amount of traffic caused by malware, computer viruses, trojans, downloading compromised data, etc.?
I am also wondering about where the traffic jams are or might be occurring. Is it between the user and the first router accessed on the net, or is it on the network between net related routers? If the latter, then why are we not talking more about total network capacity, rather than the size/speed of the connection between user and the net? Shouldn't network capacity be some percentage of possible peak loads?
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 24 Mar 2020 @ 7:39am
Why?
Even though Gilead had little or no cost in the development of the drug, the cost of applying for patents for things they did not create is...extraordinary. Besides, the CEO at Gilead read about the AT&T CEO getting a record compensation here on Techdirt and became exceedingly jealous. But, in order to justify the breaking of compensation records anew he needs something spectacular to show the board. Things are status quo in the world of Wall Street influenced, quarterly results oriented public companies. Opportunities must not be missed.
/s unnecessary but for the few, the proud and the agenda motivated
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 23 Mar 2020 @ 10:54am
Re: Re: Vaccine vs cure markets
"Definition of vaccine
: a preparation of killed microorganisms, living attenuated organisms, or living fully virulent organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease
Definition of cure
2a: recovery or relief from a disease
Her cure was complete.
b: something (such as a drug or treatment) that cures a disease
Quinine is a cure for malaria.
Definition of fallacy
1a: a false or mistaken idea
I was using these definitions. Given them, I was not wrong in my usage, though we might quibble about whether ignoring facts is a false or mistaken idea rather than a point missed. We might consider that as a law professor and cheerleader for extended monopolies his income might depend upon his position.
On the post: WTF Hospital Administrators? Now Is NOT The Time To Silence Doctors & Nurses From Commenting On COVID-19 Shortages
Re:
Actually I think it should be two tiered. Normal health care, not for profit, and elective, where they can charge what the market will bear. There are problems with this idea, one is how to deal with malpractice, and when should cosmetic treatments be considered normal (repairing burns for example rather than other types).
On the post: WTF Hospital Administrators? Now Is NOT The Time To Silence Doctors & Nurses From Commenting On COVID-19 Shortages
Re: No shortage of ego-filled administrators
Could it be that these administrators are merely trying to manage risk? Risk of the inevitable lawsuit for when they are exposed as being unprepared, incompetent, or negligent (real or imagined), and those are expensive. After all, it is the administrators purpose to maintain profitability, rather than high medical standards or preparedness. Buying and storing equipment that doesn't have immediate application would be a detriment to the quarterly bottom line.
On the post: Jared Kushner's Coronavirus Task Force Is Using Private Email Accounts To Conduct Official Business
Re: Re:
It might be reasonable to presume that if White House meetings about the corona virus were classified that all White House functions concerning the corona virus are also classified. It would then follow that at least some of Kusher's emails contain classified information. It isn't his fault that the information was classified, but he was put in the position of dealing with it, and it would be entirely his fault that classified information wound up in private emails. That Kushner was not competent enough to handle the position is Trumps fault for putting him in that position. Both are culpable.
On the post: Jared Kushner's Coronavirus Task Force Is Using Private Email Accounts To Conduct Official Business
Transparency
If the current White House administration had any interest in being transparent, then they would not have made their meetings about their COVID-19 response classified (meaning we probably won't be able to find out about how badly off track they were for maybe 20 years or so). I suspect that they are either trying to weasel in some backhanded economic stimulus (which won't mean a hill of beans if the spread of the virus does not take a drastic downturn) or they are seriously worried about documenting their missteps in their reaction to the crisis.
Of course, if they were seriously worried about their missteps in reaction to the crisis the really should put a muzzle on the Missteper in Chief.
On the post: Judge Allows PEN America's Lawsuit Against Donald Trump Over Retaliation Against The Media To Proceed
Re: 'Oh no, not the dreaded finger wag, not again!'
There is a problem in that the courts don't actually have much power. I know that this article at Simple Justice is on another subject, but it nicely points out the dilemma that occurs when a court order is ignored. Trump isn't going to pay any fine. More attempts to oust journalists they don't like from the press room will just use different excuses that will then need to be adjudicated. And it's not like the DoJ will be hounding the White House about their behavior any time soon. Then there is the idea of holding someone at the Executive Branch in contempt and watching the finger pointing as various people pass blame in a circle.
Maybe we should give courts some enforcement power? But then we have seen what power can do to otherwise seemingly intelligent people.
On the post: Instead of COVID-19 Hazard Pay, Spectrum Is Giving Its Repair Techs $25 Gift Cards To Closed Restaurants
Re: Re: They REALLY want that award...
Too many candidates. You might have to make that the top 1000.
On the post: Instead of COVID-19 Hazard Pay, Spectrum Is Giving Its Repair Techs $25 Gift Cards To Closed Restaurants
Re: Re: The cynic in me says...
Dang, I missed that.
Gift cards are one of the best values, for the restaurant, simply because they are often never redeemed. The restaurant gets paid, but has no expenses. A closed restaurant has an even better chance of that card never being redeemed, expiration date, or not.
On the post: Instead of COVID-19 Hazard Pay, Spectrum Is Giving Its Repair Techs $25 Gift Cards To Closed Restaurants
The cynic in me says...
I bet those gift cards have expiration dates that comes and goes before those restaurants reopen.
On the post: Copyright Is Broken: COVID-19 Pandemic Revealing Just How Messed Up Our Permission-Based Culture Is
Re: I am not holding my breath
And highly unlikely. It is more likely that those whose future employment depends upon 'donations' from big business will determine that strong IP will be necessary to recharge the economy. The fact that moving IP from those big conglomerates to individuals and independents might have a better, broader impact on the economy will be lost on them as the dollars fill their campaign troughs.
On the post: Someone Convinced Google To Delist Our Entire Right To Be Forgotten Tag In The EU For Searches On Their Name
Re: May I suggest
One could also suggest they use a different search engine, such as duckduckgo.com. Both the Techdirt stories and Thomas Goolnik and Edward Harris Goolnik stories are still available. At least they were a few minutes ago.
On the post: 67 Years Ago Today: Jonas Salk Announced The Polio Vaccine... And Did NOT Patent It
Re: Re: Re: But what incentive would he have without a patent?
Your right, publicity for altruism is much more valuable than profit from a patent...except for the shareholders. A properly waged PR campaign could set an individual up for a long, long time. Profit will be pulled from a corporation by executives behaving arrogantly, and what they don't scrape out of cash flow will go to shareholders at the quarters end. Not very longstanding at all.
On the post: EU Parliament Told Predictive Policing Software Relies On Dirty Data Generated By Corrupt Cops
The thought police haven't thought this out
If the effect of predictive policing is that the police cover areas where a crime is 'predicted' to occur then one harm is that the possibility that another area wouldn't be covered as well as it could have been, given limited resources. Another is that people in the covered area could be harassed at inappropriate levels. Neither of those is good.
But I fear that things will go much further, and at least here in the US with the concept of innocent until proven guilty, that rabbit hole will become huge. What will they charge some 'culprit' with, followed by, how would they prove that beyond a reasonable doubt? The fact is, if someone is arrested for 'they are about to commit a crime' that at that point, no crime has been committed. If we are talking about proving conspiracy to commit a crime, that's another thing, however proving conspiracy isn't as easy as 'we thought they were about to xxx'. And, at what level would conspiracy be worthy of investigation. There are things such as a crime of opportunity where no planning actually takes place.
Until time travel becomes a reality, where we can go back a day or so and actually prevent something from happening, predictive policing is just a law enforcement fantasy. And since time travel is unlikely to become a reality anytime soon, predictive policing will remain a law enforcement fantasy, except that they are implementing it anyway, forcing us to live in their fantasy existence. But it isn't their world, at least not yet. It's ours.
On the post: Washington State Legislators Pass Bill Blocking Use Of Facial Recognition Tech Without A Warrant
How about some guidelines?
I like this, but I think they should have included some guidelines, or different agencies will choose different retention policies creating a difficulty in understanding what the rules are, and possibly create some overlaps.
As to non-state agencies, it should not matter whether the tech is owned by state entities or not, the same rules should apply, otherwise it will just be another vector for parallel construction, and those retention rules should apply to them as well.
On the post: FDA Won't Say When Gilead Applied For Orphan Status On COVID-19 Treatment, Calling It 'Secret'
Even though we work for you, we also work for them, and us
The real secret is the deal made with FDA officials for either current or future compensation to allow the 'orphan drug' status to apply. Allowing anyone to know 'when' that status was applied for would lead to additional, uncomfortable, questions about 'why, who, how' and with 'what' justifications in light of all the rest of the evidence. 'Where' isn't important in this context.
On the post: Big Telecom's Quest To Use The First Amendment To Scuttle Privacy Laws Won't Go Well, Experts Predict
Re:
I am not so sure about that. Section 230, not the 1st Amendment protects them in that regard. Now if Section 230 gets eviscerated they might have to find other ways to control their content, and I suspect that expanded (can they get larger or more obtuse?) TOS's will be their vehicle.
Aside from that, I think the concept of corporate personhood has limitations. While some personal rights might be granted, not all of them are. From Wikipedia:
That bit about the headnote tells us that the precident relied upon was something written by a clerk, not a judge, not a legislator, and not the Supreme Court. Justice Rehnquist was known to have doubts about this.
I do not think corporations should have 1st Amendment rights which is why I get so worked up about the Citizens United decision that granted them permission to speak with their money. Much more money than any of us have, thereby giving them a greater voice amongst voices that are supposed to be equal.
On the post: Houston Police Chief Says He'll Prosecute People For False Statements About COVID-19 Response; Won't Debate 1st Amendment
Goose and gander, meet pot and kettle.
The funny part is he is limiting false statements to Covid-19, but not any politicians campaign promises, or legislative rhetoric when they try to justify some of the crazy things they vote for.
On the post: Netflix, Disney Throttle Video Streams In Europe To Handle COVID-19 Internet Strain
Curiosity kills the cat, again
I know that video is charged with large percentages of Internet traffic volume, but has there ever been a comparison with the amount of traffic caused by malware, computer viruses, trojans, downloading compromised data, etc.?
I am also wondering about where the traffic jams are or might be occurring. Is it between the user and the first router accessed on the net, or is it on the network between net related routers? If the latter, then why are we not talking more about total network capacity, rather than the size/speed of the connection between user and the net? Shouldn't network capacity be some percentage of possible peak loads?
On the post: Why Is The FDA Giving A Potential COVID-19 Treatment 'Orphan' Status?
Why?
Even though Gilead had little or no cost in the development of the drug, the cost of applying for patents for things they did not create is...extraordinary. Besides, the CEO at Gilead read about the AT&T CEO getting a record compensation here on Techdirt and became exceedingly jealous. But, in order to justify the breaking of compensation records anew he needs something spectacular to show the board. Things are status quo in the world of Wall Street influenced, quarterly results oriented public companies. Opportunities must not be missed.
/s unnecessary but for the few, the proud and the agenda motivated
On the post: Judge To Art Licensing Agency: No, Your Stupid Unicorn Is Not More Important Than COVID-19 Right Now, Shut Up
Re: Well, Judge,
No worries, if unicorns go extinct they can be replaced by hippogriffs on an emergency basis.
On the post: Everyone's Got A Pet Project: Patent Maximalist Says We Need Longer Patents To Incentivize Coronavirus Vaccines
Re: Re: Vaccine vs cure markets
Definitions found at Miriam Webster
I was using these definitions. Given them, I was not wrong in my usage, though we might quibble about whether ignoring facts is a false or mistaken idea rather than a point missed. We might consider that as a law professor and cheerleader for extended monopolies his income might depend upon his position.
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