CharlesGrossman 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (36)

• On the post: Alabama Deputy Sued After Cuffing An Arrestee So Tightly His Hand Had To Be Amputated

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 07 Jun, 2021 @ 06:49pm

  Why is this in Techdirt?

  A heartbreaking store -- and I hope justice is done -- but how is this related to Techdirt's areas of interest?

• On the post: 9th Circuit Gets It Right: Says Led Zeppelin Didn't Infringe; Dumps Dumb 'Inverse Ratio' Rule

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 10 Mar, 2020 @ 09:44am

  Two Principal Scales in Western Music

  What does the court mean by "The chromatic scale is one of two principal scales in Western music" -- what is the other principal scale: major? natural minor? harmonic minor? blues?

• On the post: Study Says Russian Trolls Didn't Have Much Influence On Election; But It's More Complicated Than That

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 03 Dec, 2019 @ 01:10pm

  "Well Documented Attempts to Influence the Election"

  Here's what's well-documented: people in Russia posted fake and misleading online information which attracted attention and interest. What isn't well-documented: this was directed by the Russian government; this was intended to influence the election. What it looks like to me: commercial Russian clickfarms took advantage of most interesting and controversial topics to make plenty of money, just like clickfarms do all the time with whatever topics are hot.

• On the post: Filipina Girl From New Zealand Takes Her Slime Show International After Fending Off Nickelodeon Lawsuit

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 24 Jul, 2019 @ 07:18am

  She didn't quite "defeat" Viacom at the Trademark Office

  Unfortunately, she didn't quite "defeat" Viacom at the Trademark Office -- mostly in the court of public relations, I think: Viacom withdrew its opposition to her trademark. See https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12225594

• On the post: Section 230 Works: Russian Trolls Don't Get To Sue Facebook For Being Kicked Off Facebook

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 23 Jul, 2019 @ 11:58am

  Influencing the Election or Just Making Money?

  I still haven't seen any evidence -- including in the indictment of Russian trolls -- indicating that their motivation was to influence the election. A good case can be made that their single-minded intention was to do what all successful trolls do: Choose the most controversial hot-button issues to generate the most clicks and make the most money possible.

• On the post: State Judge Prefers Prior Restraint To The First Amendment, Orders Blogger To Delete Supposedly Defamatory Posts

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2019 @ 11:48am

  What "Prior Restraint" Means

  The judge's foolish order may be unconstitutional for lots of reasons, but I don't get why it's called "prior restraint" -- doesn't that usually mean preventing someone from taking an action in the future? Here, the order is saying to take down materials that already have been published.

• On the post: YouTube's $100 Million Upload Filter Failures Demonstrate What A Disaster Article 13 Will Be For The Internet

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 18 Dec, 2018 @ 02:04pm

  I love ContentID because I get free money

  I uploaded a song to YouTube Music. ContentID told me that a dozen videos use my song, and I get a few pennies every time someone views one of the videos. I've looked at all of the videos, and there is NO PART of my song in them. I don't even know whom to report this to, so I'll continue collecting my pennies thanks to ContentID.

• On the post: Lessons From Making Internet Companies Liable For User's Speech: You Get Less Speech, Less Security And Less Innovation

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 18 Jun, 2018 @ 12:38pm

  Less Speech, Less Security, Less Innovation: 2 outta 3 ain't bad

  Sounds good to me: Less speech (since so much "speech" is garbage) and less innovation (so that we can get only developments that are really useful and beneficial and eliminate overhyped nonsense "innovations"). All right, I admit that less security sounds troubling.

• On the post: Lucha Underground Wrestling Sends Legal Threat To Journalists For Publishing 'Spoilers'

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 16 Mar, 2018 @ 08:42am

  Nice Reverse Streisand Play by Lucha

  I always admire when someone uses the Streisand Effect to garner huge publicity while pretending they're trying to avoid it. Well played, Lucha Underground!

• On the post: Creator Of Arguably The World's Worst Film Loses Injunction Against Unflattering Documentary

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 09 Nov, 2017 @ 05:15pm

  Crazy theories about Wiseau that I believe

  I know these theories are foolish, but I believe them: (1) Wiseau's litigiousness is based solely on his finely-honed instinct for generating publicity; and (2) Wiseau is the comedian Andy Kaufman, who faked his death not long before Wiseau first appeared on the scene.

• On the post: Mayweather V. McGregor: Showtime Got Injunctions On Pirate Stream Sites Which Didn't Work & Neither Did Their Own Stream

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 29 Aug, 2017 @ 11:23am

  Whac-a-Mole

  I hope you don't get hassled by the holder of the Whac-a-Mole trademark. I think the conventional hassle from trademark holders to journalists and writers is that they strongly urge the use of capital letters so that readers will know it's a trademark (in addition to urging writers not to use the trademark as if it's a generic term for the product or service).

• On the post: Facebook, Twitter Consistently Fail At Distinguishing Abuse From Calling Out Abuse

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 09 Aug, 2017 @ 02:49pm

  My Hypocritical Solution: Verified Non-Anonymous Accounts Only

  Because I write under a pseudonym, my proposed solution is entirely hypocritical -- but I believe that non-anonymous accounts, which are verified to use the correct name of the real person, would solve 99% of this problem.

• On the post: Our Response To Titan Note Sending A Frivolous Takedown Notice Over Our Critical Coverage

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2017 @ 11:39am

  Stupid spell-checking programs

  Don't you hate it when a spell-checking program allows the wrong (correctly spelled) word through? Attorney White's letter should say "but to identify Titan" and not "but to identity Titan"

• On the post: Patent Trolling Lawyers May Have Picked With The Wrong Company To Shake Down: Cloudflare Hits Back

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 12 May, 2017 @ 10:44am

  Is reverse crowdfunding a new thing?

  I understand that word meaning can change, but is it really "crowdfunding" when Crowdflare "is also crowdfunding up to $50,0000 for prior art discoveries"? Isn't this the opposite of crowdfunding (at least in its traditional meaning) -- Crowdflare is giving away money for what it seeks, not trying to raise money -- or is this a new thing to be called "reverse crowdfunding"?

• On the post: HowStuffWorks Attempts To Explain Why Advertisers Use Super Bowl Euphemisms, But I Have A Simpler Explanation

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 04 Feb, 2017 @ 07:01am

  "The Big Game" is a registered trademark too

  There are so many trademark registrations for "The Big Game" that I'm surprised there don't seem to be any lawsuits about advertisers infringing that trademark yet.

• On the post: You Have To Distort The Facts Pretty Badly To Argue That Google & Facebook Are Worse For Consumers Than AT&T

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 16 Dec, 2016 @ 01:53pm

  All News is Fake

  This is a perfect example of why the fuss over "fake news" is so laughable. Here is an op-ed piece in the New York Times by an apparently respected pundit, as full of garbage as the worst "fake news" clickbait.

• On the post: Newegg Sues Over Copied Legal Filing; Judge Rules That It's Not Fair Use

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 19 Sep, 2016 @ 01:02pm

  Re: Use the tools you are given

  Victims of plagiarism can sue based on legal theories other than copyright infringement. In a recent Connecticut plagiarism case, the lawsuit was based on conversion and civil theft. Coster v. Duquette, No. UWYCV075005297S, 2008 Conn. Super. LEXIS 3082 (Super. Ct. Dec. 3, 2008)

• On the post: Citigroup Sues AT&T For Saying 'Thanks' To Customers

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 15 Jun, 2016 @ 06:24pm

  End of the "War on Christmas"?

  If Citibank wins over "THANKYOU", then I can see an end to the controversy over saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" -- Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly should just register a trademark for "Happy Holidays" and then everyone will have to stop saying it.

• On the post: Public Outcry Leads Minnesota Politician To Drop Terrible Idea For The PRINCE Act

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 20 May, 2016 @ 06:21am

  Great to see MPAA and Techdirt on the same side

  Surprising to see the MPAA's take on this, in the StarTribune article linked within the post: "Even after senators curtailed the proposal's reach, objections remained among some powerful interests. Elizabeth Mottur, a lobbyist for the Motion Picture Association of America, said it could expose filmmakers to lawsuits if they portray historical characters or even use historical footage in movies. She used 'Forrest Gump' as an example. 'You can say, yes, that movies are protected by the First Amendment,' Mottur said. 'Yes, but now the burden is being shifted to the company to go to court and fight the charge and prove their First Amendment right.'"

• On the post: Audio Equipment Manufacturer Threatens Amazon Reseller With 'Mandatory Jail Time'

  

  CharlesGrossman ( profile ), 27 Aug, 2015 @ 02:26pm

  Re: Unauthorized Practice of Law

  Finally, here is The State Bar of California's response to my complaint about Marta Thoma Hall (see my earlier comments in this thread for history):
  
  "The State Bar of California is in receipt of your letter regarding Marta Thoma Hall. Although the State Bar can take certain limited action against non-lawyers under section 6126 of the Businesss and Professions Code, our primary jurisdictional authority is over California attorneys.
  
  "We contacted Velodyne regarding your complaint that Ms. Hall was issuing legal notices to third-party resellers on Amazon.com and eBay.com from Sock and Bruster Internet Policing Services Inc. LPC, Legal Prosecution and Collection Agency, a fictitious agency. It is the State Bar's understanding that Ms. Hall is no longer in her former position at Velodyne; therefore, it is unlikely that Ms. Hall will continue to send these legal notices.
  
  "We are interested in the information provided and we will keep your complaint on file; however, we are closing your matter at this time without prejudice. Should we require additional information in the future, we will contact you.
  
  "Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.
  Very truly yours,
  Kevin Kim
  Law Clerk"

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