tom 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Surveillance Tech Firm Sued By Meta For Using Thousands Of Bogus Accounts To Scrape Data

    tom ( profile ), 29 Jan, 2023 @ 11:03am

    If Meta/Facebook wins this lawsuit, does this mean that people without Facebook accounts can sue FB for scraping data about them from other websites?

  • On the post: YouTube’s New Content Policies Around Mature Content Results In Chaos

    tom ( profile ), 29 Jan, 2023 @ 10:59am

    Why does this sound like the C-suite of Youtube found the "How to change mature content policies" published by Tumblr and decided to use it.

  • On the post: HBO Max Keeps Losing Popular Content, Highlighting The Raging Stupidity Of Pointless Media Megamergers

    tom ( profile ), 06 Jan, 2023 @ 11:11am

    Sound like by the time the local electric coop runs fiber to my rural location, streaming will be just as bad if not worse then DirectTV. Except I will need multiple subscription accounts to receive this range of sub-standard offerings. Sigh....

  • On the post: State TikTok Bans Are A Dumb Performance And Don’t Fix The Actual Underlying Problem

    tom ( profile ), 09 Dec, 2022 @ 06:59am

    If I heard the news blurb on it correctly, the governor in my state of OK just issued an executive order banning tiktok from state devices and networks. Concerns about China getting the data seemed to be the point, not the general data harvesting. Yet another example of government "Doing Something" about something important without really knowing what they are doing.

  • On the post: Appeals Court Reminds Cop That Calling Normal Human Behavior Suspicious Is No Way To Secure A Conviction

    tom ( profile ), 09 Dec, 2022 @ 06:54am

    From the linked pdf, one of the points was violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). (g) It shall be unlawful for any person— (1) who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year; Guessing Miller has a felony record which is pretty much a no go for possessing a firearm in the US.

  • On the post: Law Enforcement Is Extracting Tons Of Data From Vehicle Infotainment Systems

    tom ( profile ), 06 Dec, 2022 @ 03:30pm

    Most modern cars are just a variation on the Personalized Tracking Device, much like smartphones. At least most phones will be replaced every few years and get updated security. Most cars will long outlive the support window from the factory and will be a PTD with outdated security. Even worse, most car makers consider any data generated by the vehicle their property to be done with as they see fit.

  • On the post: 5G Airplane Interference Worries Were Largely Overhyped

    tom ( profile ), 17 Oct, 2022 @ 12:13pm

    One big reason the FAA went super conservative is they had just gotten a big political black eye over their failure to properly oversee Boeing's 737MAX with MCAS. That failure caused two crashes and hundreds of deaths. The FAA got lucky in that the deaths were not on US territory. Any crashes due to 5G interference at US airports would be on US territory. Bureaucracies normally react to being caught not doing their jobs by slowing everything down and following every rule to the exact letter.

  • On the post: ‘Matter’ Standard Hopes To Clean Up The Messy Smart Home Space

    tom ( profile ), 10 Oct, 2022 @ 05:13pm

    The use of IPV6 means a lot of home networks will have poor support. Yes, I know, IPV6 was supposed to be rolled out long ago. But this is the real world. Even if the ISP claims to support IPV6, does the edge device do it in a way that is secure but also easy for the end user to understand? Probably not. Also very likely the energy usage of the smart circuitry on an appliance will exceed the claimed savings of running in less then peak times. That large screen on the front of some Samsung fridges probably uses more power then the average consumption of the compressor. Do we really want to apply monthly security updates to tens of gizmos in the smart home? Or keep running them for years after the mfg dropped support? Windows XP is newer then a lot of fridges or AC/Heat units in homes. Very likely that if a smart fridge had been introduced in 2000, it would have had some version of Win95 embedded. That was only 22 years ago. How much security support does Microsoft provide for Win95 today? Maybe someday all this 'Smart' stuff will make sense but I don't think we are at that point today.

  • On the post: DOJ, Senate Leader Continue To Stoke Irrational Fear That Drug Dealers Are Targeting Kids With Multicolored Fentanyl

    tom ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2022 @ 06:28pm

    While a lot of the screeching about fentanyl is political grandstanding, Tobacco and later Vaping companies did target kids with advertising, colorful boxes and tasty sounding flavors in hopes the kids would start using their addictive products. I see little reason to think that current drug cartels wouldn't follow these examples. I remember when candy cigarettes were a thing. So it is possible there is a bit of truth to the colorful pills being used to target kids. But far more likely that this is yet another government "Think of the Children" excuse to get more funding and more anti-citizen power.

  • On the post: ‘Dozens’ Of Broadband Providers Ripped Off Low Income COVID Relief Program, FCC Says

    tom ( profile ), 19 Sep, 2022 @ 09:32am

    For the OK fraud, I see counts of Identity Theft, Fraud, and Perjury for each fake person signed up. Charge the person(s) who signed the forms, their superiors, and the Board of Directors. If the filings were via an on-line portal, add in the applicable Computer Crimes charge(s). Sadly, probably won't happen.

  • On the post: California Senate Passes Three Awful Bills For The Internet; Will Newsom Sign Them?

    tom ( profile ), 30 Aug, 2022 @ 12:02pm

    Anyone have a scorecard that ranks the states on stupid legislative tricks for 2022? Seems like it would be a busy one.

  • On the post: New FCC Broadband Maps Are A Bit Of A ‘Train Wreck’

    tom ( profile ), 29 Aug, 2022 @ 06:41pm

    To get an accurate map of where an ISP is providing service, demand their billing records. Those will show a service address, billing address and level of service. Sure, it will miss houses where either a competitor provides service or someone is using a cell hot spot but should be good enough. Far better then the current census block system.

  • On the post: Texas School District Decides To Just Ban All Books Flagged For Review… Including The Bible

    tom ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2022 @ 03:32am

    What happened in the TX school district is similar to what happens when tech companies try to moderate forum postings. Such efforts seem to go wrong more often then they get things right. Doesn't seem to matter if the thing deciding is a mindless algorithm or a committee of people. At some point, the deciding thing takes the 'safe' path and just bans things. At least with the school district, unhappy parents can complain to a real person and try to replace the school board at election time.

  • On the post: While Everyone Was Focused On Crypto Scams, Walmart Was Out Here Actively Helping Scammers

    tom ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2022 @ 06:29am

    Possible that years earlier Walmart was sued and lost after denying a suspected money transfer because 'reasons'. Even worse if the customer had non white skin. A lot of stupid policies like "If you suspect fraud, complete the transaction" are due to past lawsuits. A decade or two ago, many law enforcement jurisdictions were complaining that Walmart was was their #1 source of calls and cases due to a large number of shoplifting catches. They pressured Walmart to lower the numbers. What is a retailer to do? Stop the criminals and the ACLU complains about folks being processed and having a record due to 'petty' crime. Let them go and people complain about Walmart contributing to high crime rates. I can see a similar scenario playing out today. If Walmart gets really tough on fraudulent transfer customers, how long before prosecutors and the ACLU start complaining about the flood of 'trivial' crime charges?

  • On the post: Google Deletes Abortion Location Data As Attack On Roe Completely Realigns The Privacy Debate

    tom ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2022 @ 10:17am

    What about my comment makes you think it is dishonest or that I missed the point? Google and other tech companies consider people using their PTDs as things producing product(data) that Google can sell. Not all that different then how a plantation owner viewed slaves working the fields producing crops for sale. Google no more wants a real privacy bill then the CSA wanted the Emancipation Proclamation.

  • On the post: Google Deletes Abortion Location Data As Attack On Roe Completely Realigns The Privacy Debate

    tom ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2022 @ 07:30am

    There have been many stories, articles and postings about all of the data collection being done by Personalized Tracking Devices(PTD) aka smartphones, connected cars, stores, banks, medical places, and etc and yet most people still carry and use their PTD all the time. Many show signs of withdrawal if their PTD is out of reach for more then a few minutes. Pretty clear that most folks have voted with their actions that they really don't care about privacy. If someone is worried about being tracked to a place where certain things are done, better leave that PTD at home and take a transport system that doesn't function as a PTD. Pay for the services with cash. Google and others stating they support a strong privacy bill is in the same alternate reality world where President Jefferson Davis of the Confederate States of America claims he supports a Slave's Rights Bill.

  • On the post: Dangerous Ruling Says If Someone Goes Onto Your Openly Shared Google Drive, You Can Sue Them For Unauthorized Access

    tom ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2022 @ 12:16pm

    We shouldn't need a special 'on a computer' law to charge vandalism. The public Google drive location wasn't much different then a public park. What was allegedly done was closer to vandalism then hacking. Much like someone going to a public park and chopping down several trees. The person chopping trees was authorized to be in the park but not authorized to chop down trees. The person deleting files was authorized to be in the google drive but not authorized to delete files. Charge for the crime committed, vandalism of property, not for just being in the public drive.

  • On the post: New Report Offers Solutions For Our Never Ending Robocall Hell

    tom ( profile ), 15 Jun, 2022 @ 08:57am

    Charge a 10 cent per call tax on all calls over 1000/month from a phone number. When millions of spam calls start costing money to make, the numbers will likely drop a lot.

  • On the post: San Francisco Cops Are Accessing Autonomous Vehicle Recordings To Collect Evidence

    tom ( profile ), 31 May, 2022 @ 07:58am

    The pole cameras are owned and operated by the city or a company contracted by the city. The Autonomous Vehicles are owned and operated by private companies/individuals. The rules of evidence in court are often different for recordings created by the city versus that obtained by private persons/companies.

  • On the post: Survey Shows Majority Of GOP Voters Support Restoring Net Neutrality

    tom ( profile ), 31 May, 2022 @ 07:46am

    There is a big difference in thinking between the average GOP voter and the people running the party organization. The Dems have the same problem. The folks running the various party organizations have become rather hard core left or right depending on party. Neither has much tolerance for a middle ground politician. RINO and DINO are terms frequently heard from party officials to describe anyone daring to try a moderate approach. The problem for politicians is that in order to get party support and the resulting campaign help and funding, they have to at least appear to conform to the dictates of the Party. And the true believers in the far right or left now have an easy time of getting official party support. Twenty or thirty years ago, such outliers would have been labeled as radicals and largely ignored by the two parties. Plus the comment above about corporate donations is spot on. Many corporations give to PACs that then give to the two parties so that no matter who wins, the corporation can go to that person and say "We helped you get elected and would really appreciate your vote for/against ...."

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