What we have going on is both an assault on both censorship and due process. Seizing of the domain names was done with the thinnest veneer of due process; you can find one judge somewhere who will issue an order on almost anything.
I was going to say "almost anything short of molesting children" but I just remembered the item about the TSA suggesting telling children that having their genitals touched is just a game. I bet that logic coming from the TSA under the cloak of "national security" would persuade a lot judges to issue an order for child molestation. Clearly, all bets are off on what the US government is willing to do.
This is another case where the analysis to physical goods breaks down.
We keep hearing the analogy of seizing drugs or counterfeit items. Those items can be moved or physically destroyed, so they have to be seized by the government to preserve the evidence. If after the seizure tests show that the items were seized improperly then the items can be returned. The company may have had some lost opportunities while the items were held, but if proven innocent the items are returned and the business continues in most cases.
The domains that were seized were not physical goods. They were domain names. They could not be destroyed or moved or hidden. The evidence of crimes would have been on servers and could have been gathered while the domains were working. In fact, that is exactly how the evidence was gathered in the RIAA file sharing cases as well as the infamous Hurt Locker lawsuits. If a case was to be made, it could have been made just as well if the domains were operational. Shutting down the servers effectively put the owners out of business, and that business can never be fully returned to them by restoring the domain names.
This is another case where the analysis to physical goods breaks down.
We keep hearing the analogy of seizing drugs or counterfeit items. Those items can be moved or physically destroyed, so they have to be seized by the government to preserve the evidence. If after the seizure tests show that the items were seized improperly then the items can be returned. The company may have had some lost opportunities while the items were held, but if proven innocent the items are returned and the business continues in most cases.
The domains that were seized were not physical goods. They were domain names. They could not be destroyed or moved or hidden. The evidence of crimes would have been on servers and could have been gathered while the domains were working. In fact, that is exactly how the evidence was gathered in the RIAA file sharing cases as well as the infamous Hurt Locker lawsuits. If a case was to be made, it could have been made just as well if the domains were operational. Shutting down the servers effectively put the owners out of business, and that business can never be fully returned to them by restoring the domain names.
The question is why they are wasting any resources on this type of operation. A sting to bring down a real threat might be worthwhile, but that is not what they are doing. They are actively recruiting people who are not a sigificant threat any putting a lot of resources into developing them into something that sounds dangerous.
Of course they are doing other things. Apparently my sarcasm was too subtle for you. Perhaps you should call your local FBI office and volunteer your services.
Basically the FBI has been trolling for people dumb enough to fall for stings. I wonder what the terrorists that are too smart to fall for the stings are up to while the FBI puts its resources into focusing on recruiting the morons?
>>This is a slippery slope for the US to start travelling. If we start tagging people or organizations as terrorists when clearly they are not in fact, it turns into the proverbial abuse of power and witch hunt that we have all seen occur throughout history via authoritarian regimes.
I think last weekend's action clearly demonstrated that we are already way, way down down that slope and gaining speed by the second.
What is next? Will the Obama administration declare the Tea Party a terrorist organization and start seizing their assets? Or will the Tea Party gain control after the next election and declare liberals to be terrorists? The race is on.
>>Lets say this now ... expect Murdock to blame Google, it is going to fail.
Failure is the most likely outcome, but I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt as long as none of my retirement money is invested in the project. The Daily's best hope is that it will have some unique niche that will attract customers.
Even if The Daily is a modest success I expect Murdock to blame Google because it isn't a bigger success. Google getting blamed for something seems like the only sure outcome.
There won't be anything linking in, and no links out. That might be OK with some older readers but it seems very sterile and inbred to me. They won't be able to claim aggregators are stealing their content, but they may miss the traffic and potential new customers that traffic would bring.
On the positive side they have assembled some great writers and they are well funded. The Daily should be a good test of whether the paid app version of a traditional newspaper is going to work.
Expect immitators if it works, and expect Murdock to blame Google if it fails.
If they are going to survey the public, they should be trying to identify people like me. I like to fly but hate the security screenings. A lot of my travel in in the central US, and now I drive or take Amtrack whenever possible for short runs. For longer trips I just try to get out of them whenever possible.
I think the problem with the magazine and a lot of other apps is that they are base on a consumption model rather than a participation model. The model is that the newspaper puts out the information and the consumer buys it.
I don't think that is what young consumers want. Young consumers want applications that let them participate, not just consume. Older customers might be more interested in pure consumption, but that kind of model isn't going to appeal to young people. The first real break-out magazine type of app will be the one that figures out how to draw people in, allow them to contribute, and build a community.
It may be that Limewire feels a need to protest in order to distance themselves from the PE version and prevent charges that they have circumvented their agreements with the RIAA and the court order.
There is also the trademark issue to consider. Granting the folks that put out the PE edition a license to use the Limewire name would probably put them in violation of the court order.
One huge market might be replacement parts, especially for automobiles. Many of the replacement parts for cars and trucks are basically plastic shapes. As long as the printer can handle approximately the right type of plastic, but the manufacturers charge a small fortune for them. In addition, it may take a few days to locate the part and have it shipped in. From the manufacturer's perspective they have to warehouse a huge inventory of replacement parts for a decade or more.
Imagine how great it would be if every repair shop could punch out a replacement taillight lens for any vehicle in just a few minutes using a few cents worth of plastic. Manufacturers might loose a profit center, but there would be an entire industry that would grow up around supplying and organizing the recipes and materials that the shops would need to have easy access to.
It would be nice to see more than a counter bluff, such as using these extremely weak cases to go after USCG for extortion. The attorneys who assisted in filing claims that can't stand up to the sniff test should be held accountable.
>>Depends if you are downloading copyrighted music or not.
And that depends on who is talking about the downloading.
From the reporter's perspective the distinction doesn't matter because recognizing the distinction would destroy the premise of my otherwise brilliant literary endeavor.
From the perspective of the RIAA, "If it isn't a crime, we would like it to be." If hampering illegal copies also hampers downloading non-copyrighted work (i.e., non-RIAA material) then it is a double win for us!
From the perspective of an avid music downloader it is only illegal if you get caught.
Taking down a politician's web site is a pretty serious crime in a democracy because it is a direct attack on freedom of speech. I don't think 30 months is out of line at all.
I just wish it was a more uniform principle. We have provided too many legal methods such as DCMA and expansive interpretations of copyright and trademark law that let companies suppress free speech without consequences or penalties.
In my mind the only reason the penalties in this case are excessive is that don't defend freedom of speech nearly as aggressively when it is big companies suppressing the speech of the little fellow.
I kind of like the idea of letting people get their homes blurred. For one thing, it would let me scan through a neighborhood and quickly figure out where all of the jerks live.
On the post: Newsday Drops Its Paywall For 'At Least One Month'
Re: Remember !!!! how could I forget,, WHAT A DAY !!!..
On the post: US Has Lost All Moral High Ground On Internet Censorship
Censorship + no due process
I was going to say "almost anything short of molesting children" but I just remembered the item about the TSA suggesting telling children that having their genitals touched is just a game. I bet that logic coming from the TSA under the cloak of "national security" would persuade a lot judges to issue an order for child molestation. Clearly, all bets are off on what the US government is willing to do.
On the post: Homeland Security Admits That It's The Private Police Force Of The Entertainment Industry
Not physical goods
We keep hearing the analogy of seizing drugs or counterfeit items. Those items can be moved or physically destroyed, so they have to be seized by the government to preserve the evidence. If after the seizure tests show that the items were seized improperly then the items can be returned. The company may have had some lost opportunities while the items were held, but if proven innocent the items are returned and the business continues in most cases.
The domains that were seized were not physical goods. They were domain names. They could not be destroyed or moved or hidden. The evidence of crimes would have been on servers and could have been gathered while the domains were working. In fact, that is exactly how the evidence was gathered in the RIAA file sharing cases as well as the infamous Hurt Locker lawsuits. If a case was to be made, it could have been made just as well if the domains were operational. Shutting down the servers effectively put the owners out of business, and that business can never be fully returned to them by restoring the domain names.
On the post: Mainstream Press Seems To Think Fighting For Civil Liberties Is Childish
Re: Not physical goods
On the post: Mainstream Press Seems To Think Fighting For Civil Liberties Is Childish
Not physical goods
We keep hearing the analogy of seizing drugs or counterfeit items. Those items can be moved or physically destroyed, so they have to be seized by the government to preserve the evidence. If after the seizure tests show that the items were seized improperly then the items can be returned. The company may have had some lost opportunities while the items were held, but if proven innocent the items are returned and the business continues in most cases.
The domains that were seized were not physical goods. They were domain names. They could not be destroyed or moved or hidden. The evidence of crimes would have been on servers and could have been gathered while the domains were working. In fact, that is exactly how the evidence was gathered in the RIAA file sharing cases as well as the infamous Hurt Locker lawsuits. If a case was to be made, it could have been made just as well if the domains were operational. Shutting down the servers effectively put the owners out of business, and that business can never be fully returned to them by restoring the domain names.
On the post: FBI Celebrates That It Prevented FBI's Own Bomb Plot
Re: Re: What are the smart ones up to?
Of course they are doing other things. Apparently my sarcasm was too subtle for you. Perhaps you should call your local FBI office and volunteer your services.
On the post: FBI Celebrates That It Prevented FBI's Own Bomb Plot
What are the smart ones up to?
On the post: Obama 'Considering Legal Action' Against Wikileaks
Re:
I think last weekend's action clearly demonstrated that we are already way, way down down that slope and gaining speed by the second.
What is next? Will the Obama administration declare the Tea Party a terrorist organization and start seizing their assets? Or will the Tea Party gain control after the next election and declare liberals to be terrorists? The race is on.
On the post: San Diego Airport Says Recording TSA Gropings Is An Arrestible Offense?
On the post: Why Murdoch's iPad-Only Newspaper Misses The Point
Re: Re: Walled garden behind a moat
Failure is the most likely outcome, but I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt as long as none of my retirement money is invested in the project. The Daily's best hope is that it will have some unique niche that will attract customers.
Even if The Daily is a modest success I expect Murdock to blame Google because it isn't a bigger success. Google getting blamed for something seems like the only sure outcome.
On the post: Why Murdoch's iPad-Only Newspaper Misses The Point
Walled garden behind a moat
On the positive side they have assembled some great writers and they are well funded. The Daily should be a good test of whether the paid app version of a traditional newspaper is going to work.
Expect immitators if it works, and expect Murdock to blame Google if it fails.
On the post: 81% Of Americans Support Naked Airport Scans... If You Leave Out The Naked Part In Asking The Question
Asking the wrong people
On the post: Why iPad Magazine Apps Suck: They're Defined By The Past, Not The Future
Consumption-oriented
I don't think that is what young consumers want. Young consumers want applications that let them participate, not just consume. Older customers might be more interested in pure consumption, but that kind of model isn't going to appeal to young people. The first real break-out magazine type of app will be the one that figures out how to draw people in, allow them to contribute, and build a community.
On the post: Newsweek Merges With The Daily Beast... To Shut Down Newsweek?
It also gets you a mention in TechDirt.
On the post: Irony: LimeWire Complaining About 'Unauthorized' Versions Of LimeWire
CYA?
There is also the trademark issue to consider. Granting the folks that put out the PE edition a license to use the Limewire name would probably put them in violation of the court order.
On the post: Getting Ready For When The Industry Tries To Kill 3D Printers
Replacement parts
Imagine how great it would be if every repair shop could punch out a replacement taillight lens for any vehicle in just a few minutes using a few cents worth of plastic. Manufacturers might loose a profit center, but there would be an entire industry that would grow up around supplying and organizing the recipes and materials that the shops would need to have easy access to.
On the post: Law School Prof Looking To Challenge 'Hurt Locker' Lawsuits In Cases Of Weak Evidence
would be nice to see more
On the post: Time To Stop Being So Fascinated With The Cyber- Part Of Cybercrime
Re: Re: say it ain't so!
>>Depends if you are downloading copyrighted music or not.
And that depends on who is talking about the downloading.
On the post: 30 Months In Prison For Denial Of Service Hit On Politicians' Websites
Pretty serious crime
I just wish it was a more uniform principle. We have provided too many legal methods such as DCMA and expansive interpretations of copyright and trademark law that let companies suppress free speech without consequences or penalties.
In my mind the only reason the penalties in this case are excessive is that don't defend freedom of speech nearly as aggressively when it is big companies suppressing the speech of the little fellow.
On the post: Google Begins Blurring German Houses In Street View On Request
Blurring could provide useful information
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