Josh In CharlotteNC’s Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
from the the-two-big-themes dept
If I had to define a theme for Techdirt, it would be something like: "Technology constantly evolves: get it, some don't."
So, first up for my favorites this week are stories about the ones that don't get it:
Working in computer security at a major bank (note, everything I say is my own opinion and should not reflect on my employer, just as the stupid things my employer does should not reflect on me), the top story that caught my eye is how the politicians trying to tell the country how to do computer security have no idea how to do it themselves. A far-reaching computer security bill needs vigorous debate among experts and policymakers, and slow, careful consideration. Having a few elected officials who know nothing about computer security rush it through is not what we need, nor will it make anyone safer.
A decade ago in college, I wrote a paper about the problems of faulty filtering and censorship systems, and the "Scunthorpe" problem, which was already well known at the time. So I was surprised that Facebook, one of the top tech companies today, still can't get it right, and was censoring comments involving a major newspaper simply because of a (defunct) domain name in the story. If we're going to have spam filters, let's not use them to censor news stories or discussions.
How publishers keep making the same mistakes the recording industry did is mind boggling. Basic economics might not be taught in elementary school, but you'd think it would be a requirement for any college degree involving a business major. Yet they keep on insisting on higher pricing (which will mean they sell less), while at the same time increasing their own costs and customer anger by putting in DRM. What this tells me is how intellectual monopoly rights are nothing like real property and we need to stop treating (and calling) them as such. Pop quiz: If you came up with a foolproof way for a manufacturer of a physical good to reduce their manufacturing and distribution costs by 99%, would the price to the customer go up or down?
But all is not lost, there do happen to be people and companies that do get it:
Kickstarter is now the 800-lb gorilla for raising money for just about anything, and it is only getting bigger. From smartwatches, to documentaries, to medium budget video games, if you've got an idea, you can get money to try to make it happen. How soon before we see studio budget movies and video games, or a soon-to-be-major tech company get Kickstarted? I'm thrilled to see this growth, as it shows that people are willing to pay for things and don't want it all free. And even when they can get something free, they'll still pay to support it. My favorite project so far: over a million dollars was raised to reprint books of a free webcomic, Order of the Stick.
Next up we've got a guide on how to beat a patent troll from Drew Curtis. In simple terms, make it so the troll winning is much more trouble than they could ever get paid to be worth it. Not exactly a new strategy, as we've seen it work years ago, but it is always good to have refresher courses.
And finally, some good news in politics from two stories: some politicians understand issues regarding the internet, while the public is becoming engaged and demanding "life, liberty, and blazing broadband." And from Austria, where a Pirate Party candidate won a local seat. These two stories should remind those of us in the US that our votes really do matter, and we have an election coming up in about six months. So don't waste your vote on someone who doesn't get it, and don't waste your vote on the "least bad" major candidate. Vote for someone who respresents your values, even if you have to write them in. That will really start scaring those politicians and their whole parties.
(untitled comment)
Just helped my Mom switch away from TWC because of poor customer service and her service regularly going out because they wouldn't maintain their lines. AT&T ran her a new line after discovering that their old one was crap too (shock!), and while they're not really any better, at least she's paying $100 less a month for a year or two./div>
Re: Prisoners, paychecks, same thing right?
And because those kickbacks go into state and local revenue streams, really all this does is shift the tax burden onto the families of prisoners. If the tax burden was on society, there would be at least some financial incentive to try to fix the disaster that is our criminal justice system. But the rich want and get their tax breaks, while the poor and vulnerable are being stolen from with the support of government./div>
Re: When will they learn...
Re:
Clickbait
Did WaPo hire the same people to make up titles for their stories that scuzzy clickbait articles use?/div>
Re:
And they never will, unless we get serious about stopping price gouging of sick people. When people only have the choice between buying something at an inflated price and dying, the price cannot be left up to a private company only beholden to it's shareholders.
My sister was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 7 years old. She's been through insurance companies forcing changes in the type of insulin she could have after they decided to no longer cover certain types. She's been stuck without insurance between jobs before the ACA went into effect, and even when she did have insurance, been unable to afford care she needed and nearly lost vision in both eyes (only lost most in 1, so at least she can function).
To be clear: I have no problem with pharma companies making reasonable profits when they are acting ethically. But ethically does not include evergreening of patents, buying out competition from generics or suing them into the ground, spending exorbitantly on advertising and lobbying or to buy and influence doctors, and raising rates even though the actual costs to make and sell their products are stable or decreasing./div>
(untitled comment)
Hold it
Sequence of events:
1) Service quotes guy in a story.
2) Guy gets copy of story.
3) Guy contacts service to discuss concerns about story.
4) Service ask guy where he got the copy.
5) other stuff happens
I have a problem with #4. Why would the news service ask the guy they quoted where/how he got a copy of the story?
Was the service afraid he was going to public say they misquoted him and were trying to shut him up with some kind of anti-disparagement clause?/div>
F2P
It ultimately comes down to poor impulse control and some (or many) developers predatory exploitation of it. There are exceptions, but much of it is in games that have player-vs-player elements, which devolve into whoever pays the most, wins, and those who don't pay can't hope to compete./div>
Re: Since when is requiring people to pay a pittance for goods a "stick"? That's basic free market.
You can.
I could get all my music for free, whether through torrents, or ripping from Youtube or other sources.
Yet I've been paying $10 a month for Spotify for at least 2, if not 3 years now. I actually can't remember the last time I torrented music, and I've only ripped something from Youtube once or twice in the last year - and only because it wasn't on Spotify, and I'd have to actually spend time searching for where the things are on my hard drive.
Movies or TV? Similar story. I pay for Netflix, and am considering also getting Amazon Prime Video, and my personal piracy rate has dropped dramatically since I started on Netflix - it's just easier. On the other hand, I'll admit that I have torrented more often for video than music - again, it's strictly because the content isn't available in any convenient form for a reasonable price. I won't pay the absurd price for HBO Go along with the restrictions it has just for Game of Thrones. HBO doesn't get my money until they offer GoT for a reasonable price on a convenient service. But I did go and delete all my Dexter torrents from my hard drive, because its available on Netflix - so Showtime can get a cut of my money if I decide I want to rewatch that show sometime./div>
Re: When did Woz violate an NDA to make Apple I?
The way I remember the story, the first prototype Woz created while he worked for HP, using his knowledge of what in today's world would be called HP's intellectual property, without their permission.
It almost killed Apple in the cradle.
He had to take his invention into HP later and get permission to start making and selling more. Luckily for Apple, HP saw no value in it and let him go forward, thinking it was no threat to them.
The point? Woz didn't ask for permission first. Neither did iFixit./div>
Pandora's Promise
Re: Homophobia?
Re: Re:
As to this story, I think there are some interesting questions on what kind of rights sufficiently intelligent non-humans should have that we'll need to address in the future. We already accept that children and those with certain mental handicaps have some rights, but not others. Whether the first time we have to confront it is some kind of AI, or a genetically enhanced smart animal, or something we can't even foresee, the day is eventually coming./div>
Re:
This drug was on the market 60 years ago. They already made their money back, many times over.
Tauring isn't a pharmaceutical company (at least not in this instance). It's an acquisition and licensing company. It basically bought the trademark name the drug is sold under, and only in the US.
Next development in this story: people will start importing this drug from other countries where Tauring doesn't have the monopoly, and Tauring will sic ICE or some other government agency for-hire on them./div>
Zero
Re: Man, what a cup of cold, left over the weekend with a cigarette in it, coffee this is to start the week with.
Re: Re: Someone help Ahmed set up a Kickstarter
3 days after he does that the headline would be: Ahmed Mohamed arrested for selling bomb-making instructions/div>
Re: Who are the trolls here?
So tough to tell actual shenanigans from internet stupidity lately, though./div>
Re:
The same could easily be said of the DOJ being paid to shut Dotcom down on behalf of the copyright cartels./div>
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