In copyright law, corporate interest trumps public interest
Although that's the fact of copyright law, it's worth remembering that the theory under which said laws are passed is that they serve the public interest. Congress would not have power to pass said laws if it didn't pretend so:
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times...
To grant a monopoly in speech to one person is to abridge that speech as to all others. That is precisely what Congress may not (and cannot) do. That power the First Amendment withdraws on the fact of the text. Read absolutely, the text does not admit of any defense or justifications in the case of abridgement. No law simply means no law.
This cash milking operation seems to be highly inefficient. In Italy, a municipality with 1000 inhabitants makes over 1 million euro a year with a single traffic enforcement camera placed on a busy road. No need to hire more police officers or check that they're behaving fairly.
That's a start but China has a long way to go before it can compete with similar programs run by state-supported USA media like Disney, let alone FOMO machines like Instagram.
Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp have risen 842% since the blank-check acquisition company announced on Wednesday it would merge with Trump Media & Technology Group, which aims to launch a social media network called TRUTH Social.
Yesterday, before this announcement, DWAC’s stock closed at $9.96, a bit below the approximately $10.20 per share that it has in its trust, sort of a standard price for a SPAC with no deal yet. At 11 a.m. today it was trading at about $19.38, implying a valuation for Trump Thing of something like $1.7 billion. If you think Trump Thing is worth $19.38 per share, you are not going to take your $10 back; you’re going to keep the stock and let Trump have your $10. He will definitely get all $293 million.
The website only needs to last until the cash goes into Trump's bank account, then it can vanish. Maybe it doesn't even need to last that long; a mere promise to put it up later might be enough for people to hold the stock.
Of course, if Google et al end up using only their own cables so that AT&T can keep its precious bandwidth for itself, people will accuse them of wanting to "own the internet" and will complain anyway. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/facebook-google-subsea-cables
No, the military is part of the state. "Government" in that statement means the Council of Ministers (the cabinet, the executive) and "whole government" means the entire spectrum of the parties represented in the governing majority.
And how do you think the car got there? By teleporting? The city argued it needs some leeway in managing cars, by means of managing their parking. The judge answered that it doesn't get to have it, because "liquor sales" are clearly more dangerous and not comparable.
Of all the arguments one could use, claiming that cars aren't a clear and significant risk is really the most tone deaf possible.
They cut speed limits, changed street design, removed space for cars and generally made life harder for motorists.
Now it appears the work is paying off. Two of Europe’s smaller capital cities – Oslo and Helsinki – are reaping the rewards of committed action on making their roads safer, reducing pedestrian fatalities to zero last year.
vehicular violence should be an urgent target of action both within and outside of academia, and that it should be more widely addressed within broader struggles for the just, sustainable, and livable city
A couple other nominations with the Commerce committee seem to be pending still:
Nomination of Ms. Carol A. Petsonk, of the District of Columbia, to be Assistant Secretary of Transportation (PN438)
Nomination of Ms. Karen J. Hedlund, of Colorado, to be a Member of the Surface Transportation Board (PN535)
has required manufacturers to pre-install the Google Search app and browser app (Chrome), as a condition for licensing Google's app store (the Play Store);
made payments to certain large manufacturers and mobile network operators on condition that they exclusively pre-installed the Google Search app on their devices; and
has prevented manufacturers wishing to pre-install Google apps from selling even a single smart mobile device running on alternative versions of Android that were not approved by Google (so-called "Android forks").
Fifth, hardware manufacturers must place on the device's default home screen the icons which give access to the Google Search app, the Play Store and a folder labelled "Google" ("Google folder") that provides access to a collection of icons for a number of mandatory Google apps. Any other pre-installed Google apps should be placed no more than one level below the home screen.
Sixth, hardware manufacturers are required to "set Google Search as the default search provider for all Web search access points, [...]".
its counsel sent Liebowitz authenticated photos of a catalog with the allegedly infringing buckles dated 1995—seven years before Berg created his designs. Docket No. 37 at 7–8. Liebowitz’s only justification for pursuing these claims in the face of such fatal evidence was his unsupported speculation that the 1995 catalog “easily could have been fabricated.” Docket No. 30 at 8. And realizing this was a losing argument, [...]
Congratulations to M&F Western (or their lawyers) for being so diligent in preserving (or finding) their catalogs (and sharing them early on). This was an open and shut case, but only because one of the parties had extensive documentation of their products.
I remember having to hunt down photos of communications materials and fair booths from a previous decade in order to support a claim of prior use of a logo... it's not fun. Most such ephemera has no use after a short time and might go directly in the trashbin.
Idea for future compensation from Liebowitz & Co. in a losing case: a substantial donation to the Internet Archive or other non-profit committed to collecting and uploading such materials.
I'm sorry to hear about the bumpy ride, but congratulations for this decision! It makes all your readers safer. Hopefully it's also going to end up proving your point about behavioral advertising being actually useless, apart from being terrible: I wish Techdirt to make good money from this decision in the end, even though the beginning will certainly be hard.
I think there must be a market for what you're offering here: there are very few spaces like Techdirt where one can reach a broad population of netizens interested in wonky policy matters for technology.
NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing
Given most medical industries receive public money from the NIH, one first step could be the new data sharing mandate at NIH.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00402-1
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-f iles/NOT-OD-21-013.html
Clinical trials already have wide-ranging deposit mandates.
Re: Abusing copyright or simply using copyright?
Although that's the fact of copyright law, it's worth remembering that the theory under which said laws are passed is that they serve the public interest. Congress would not have power to pass said laws if it didn't pretend so:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progress_Clause
No Law
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_L._Lange
Thank you for mentioning David L. Lange's book, I love it.
Expensive amateurs
This cash milking operation seems to be highly inefficient. In Italy, a municipality with 1000 inhabitants makes over 1 million euro a year with a single traffic enforcement camera placed on a busy road. No need to hire more police officers or check that they're behaving fairly.
Source on Serravalle di Chienti: https://www.fanpage.it/attualita/il-record-del-paesino-marchigiano-mille-abitanti-e-un-milione-di-in casso-dalle-multe/ . (Another source states that two thirds of the municipalities do not report these revenues, so there might be some municipality which is even more efficient at milking car owners.)
Small potatoes
That's a start but China has a long way to go before it can compete with similar programs run by state-supported USA media like Disney, let alone FOMO machines like Instagram.
Raising the price
I wonder what price the three-letter agencies will demand from NSO for not fully strangling it. Or has it really outlived its usefulness for them?
By the magistrate judge on 2021-12-02
The lawyers will meet in person with the judge in less than one month from now.
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.537900/gov.uscourts.nysd.537900.57.0. pdf
What happens next
The answer is: more grifting.
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-socialmedia-investors-idUSKBN2HF0QI
Only needs to last until the merger
Gab has been running two years on Mastodon, despite multiple... issues. This may end up being similar.
As Matt Levine wrote (https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-10-21/matt-levine-s-money-stuff-donald-trump-does-a -spac ), the sole purpose of the website is to serve as an excuse to sell stock to gullible followers:
The website only needs to last until the cash goes into Trump's bank account, then it can vanish. Maybe it doesn't even need to last that long; a mere promise to put it up later might be enough for people to hold the stock.
Careful what you wish for
Of course, if Google et al end up using only their own cables so that AT&T can keep its precious bandwidth for itself, people will accuse them of wanting to "own the internet" and will complain anyway.
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/facebook-google-subsea-cables
Misattributed Albert Einstein quotations
It took me approx 30 seconds to find all the information I needed about this false quotation from the English Wikiquote:
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein#Misattributed
When curious about a quotation there's just too much junk around the web (and often in books too). My first stop is always at Wikiquote.
Re: Government
No, the military is part of the state. "Government" in that statement means the Council of Ministers (the cabinet, the executive) and "whole government" means the entire spectrum of the parties represented in the governing majority.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: parking plainly does not pose a clear and si
And how do you think the car got there? By teleporting? The city argued it needs some leeway in managing cars, by means of managing their parking. The judge answered that it doesn't get to have it, because "liquor sales" are clearly more dangerous and not comparable.
Re: Re: Re: parking plainly does not pose a clear and significan
Have you read what I linked? Providing the parking directly causes car traffic.
Re: parking plainly does not pose a clear and significant risk
Of all the arguments one could use, claiming that cars aren't a clear and significant risk is really the most tone deaf possible.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/16/how-helsinki-and-oslo-cut-pedestrian-deaths-to- zero
https://www.acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/1580
Re: Oh I can think of a few reasons...
Maybe after all the lobbyists have received a cushy ambassadorship, and there's nobody left to complain, the FCC will get a good nomination!
Pending Nominations on the Executive Calendar (Civilian)
To be fair, it's not like the US Senate seems in a hurry to handle the pending nominations either.
https://www.cop.senate.gov/legislative/nom_cal_civ.htm
A couple other nominations with the Commerce committee seem to be pending still:
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2021/8/executive-session
European Commission and Google Android case
See also https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_18_4581 :
https://ec.europa.eu/competition/antitrust/cases/dec_docs/40099/40099_9993_3.pdf :
1995 catalog
Congratulations to M&F Western (or their lawyers) for being so diligent in preserving (or finding) their catalogs (and sharing them early on). This was an open and shut case, but only because one of the parties had extensive documentation of their products.
I remember having to hunt down photos of communications materials and fair booths from a previous decade in order to support a claim of prior use of a logo... it's not fun. Most such ephemera has no use after a short time and might go directly in the trashbin.
All this to say that these two collections at the Internet Archive, if further expanded, could save many millions in legal fees in the future:
https://archive.org/details/catalogs
https://archive.org/details/supermarketcirculars
Idea for future compensation from Liebowitz & Co. in a losing case: a substantial donation to the Internet Archive or other non-profit committed to collecting and uploading such materials.
Well done
I'm sorry to hear about the bumpy ride, but congratulations for this decision! It makes all your readers safer. Hopefully it's also going to end up proving your point about behavioral advertising being actually useless, apart from being terrible: I wish Techdirt to make good money from this decision in the end, even though the beginning will certainly be hard.
I think there must be a market for what you're offering here: there are very few spaces like Techdirt where one can reach a broad population of netizens interested in wonky policy matters for technology.
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