william 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (342)

• On the post: Three Strikes System In Australia 'Too Costly' For Industry; Seems Piracy Not Such A Massive Problem After All

  

  william ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2016 @ 01:30pm

  basically if the total cost of investigating a infringement case is 20, and now it's costing $19 to the industry and $1 to the customer, they want to flip it to cost $0.01 for industry and $19.99 for the customers and ISPs (but mostly customers since they are the one fighting the false positives)
  
  Classic industry move to try to move the cost to externality.

• On the post: No, The FBI Does Not 'Need' The Info On Farook's iPhone; This Is Entirely About The Precedent

  

  william ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2016 @ 01:23pm

  I've said before that FBI knows this is a slippery slope, and they can't wait get to the bottom of it.

• On the post: Apple Hires Former Solicitor General, Who Lost Wife In 9/11, To Defend It Against FBI

  

  william ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2016 @ 01:16pm

  although location is not specific to this case, but the "request to modify underlying OS" is.
  
  So next time they might be requesting Apple to create a special firmware to track people's location for reason X. If you are going to touch the system, what can't you change to track?

• On the post: 'Hundreds' Of Teens Found Sexting At A Single School And Everyone Seems Unsure Of How To Proceed

  

  william ( profile ), 09 Nov, 2015 @ 11:40am

  The principle sounds like an person who is basically "playing by the books" so he doesn't have to take any responsibilities. He's basically saying, "Let the law deal with it, I am just a small town principal and I have nothing and will have nothing to do with this fiasco. Oh, and btw please don't fire me"
  
  The prosecutor sounds a bit more reasonable. What we are finding is that public servants are using less and less "discretionary power" because they don't want to take any responsibility that may jeopardize their job/position. That's why almost in every single case they just went ahead with prosecution without using their head first.
  
  I am afraid to say that the prosecutor may only be using discretion only because of the number of students involved. The idiom "Too big to fail" seems appropriate here.
  
  Be a lesson to you kids, if you want to do this, grab another 99 friends with you so the justice system won't just sweep you under the rag without thinking.
  
  If that sounds idiotic, it is, and that's what this broken and fearful American society has grow into with their tough on crime and fear-monger law making.

• On the post: Apple Tells Judge FBI's Phone Unlocking Demands 'Burdensome' At Present, 'Impossible' In The Future

  

  william ( profile ), 21 Oct, 2015 @ 12:01pm

  I think the government would have a much easier time going after the iPhone backup file on the computer, which are way more likely to be unencrypted, instead of wasting time trying to unencrypt the actual phone.

• On the post: Hungarian Camera Woman Filmed Tripping Refugees Plans To Sue Facebook, Refugee She Tripped

  

  william ( profile ), 21 Oct, 2015 @ 11:55am

  Yes, let's dig a deeper hole to China by helping the new outlets generate a whole bunch of new stories that will include the infamous scene!
  
  What a plan!

• On the post: Monkey Business: PETA Sues On Behalf Of The Monkey Selfie; Claims Copyright Belongs To The Monkey

  

  william ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2015 @ 12:13pm

  Re:

  Kishimoto Masahi called and want his cut.
  
  PS. for folks that doesn't know what the name Naruto is, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruto

• On the post: Monkey Business: PETA Sues On Behalf Of The Monkey Selfie; Claims Copyright Belongs To The Monkey

  

  william ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2015 @ 12:14pm

  any news item that has "PETA" attached to it automatically goes into my "mentally challenging" bookmark folder.
  
  works 99% of the time... and this one is no exception... sigh.

• On the post: Ford Pretends To Open Up Its Patents Like Tesla, But Doesn't; Media Falls For It

  

  william ( profile ), 29 May, 2015 @ 04:41pm

  Re: Re:

  I see I see.
  
  thanks for the clarification. I didn't dig further but just go to the first link in the article.

• On the post: Ford Pretends To Open Up Its Patents Like Tesla, But Doesn't; Media Falls For It

  

  william ( profile ), 29 May, 2015 @ 02:11pm

  I have a question.
  
  The original techdirt article on Tesla "freeing up" all their patents says, and I quote,
  
  As for the actual way this will work, Tesla has announced that it "will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology."
  
  compare this to what Ford is doing, I honestly fail to see how Tesla is different than Ford.
  
  Tesla: go ahead and use it, and TRUST US not to sue you for infringement or money (but we can change our minds any time)
  
  Ford: These patents are available, but check with OUR LICENSING first and we can draw up a deal (which may or may not involve money)
  
  End result, neither of them are really "free" to be honest.
  
  So why praise Tesla while slamming Ford? (not that I particularly like Ford or anything)

• On the post: Trademark Examiner Not Swayed By Katy Perry's Attempt To Trademark The Left Shark

  

  william ( profile ), 24 Apr, 2015 @ 03:35pm

  Now whenever I see or read about Left Shark, I think of how idiotic Katy Perry and her legal team/publicist are.
  
  So in a way, it is a trademark for Katy Perry since I associate it with her, the uneducated, ill-informed, and idiotic Katy Perry.
  
  I applaud on mission accomplished by her publicist and lawyer to trademark left shark and associate it with Katy.

• On the post: Why Even Justified Criticisms Of GNU Privacy Guard Miss The Point

  

  william ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2015 @ 02:16pm

  Thank you Moxie for your enthusiasm in the 1990s (wow it's already 20 years since 1995!) about End-to-End encryption for the masses using GPG
  
  Since you probably didn't contributed much to this open source development, most of the disappointment you have is brought about by you for not doing anything.
  
  So we are just going to take good points in your criticism, and ignore your bi*ching.
  
  thank you and come again!

• On the post: Linux Developer Who Issued Bogus YouTube Takedowns Threatens Techdirt With Legal Action For Publishing His 'Private Information'

  

  william ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2015 @ 01:17pm

  so basically, we are looking at the all too common internet hacks these days who uses Google mindlessly to look for information by using certain keywords.
  
  Then didn't bother using their analytical mind to digest the information and gain the knowledge in their benefit.
  
  Instead, they post links, hoping the other sides are also hacks that doesn't read the linked information.

• On the post: Rep. Mike Rogers, On His Way Out Of Congress, Slams Obama For Not Launching Premature Cyberwar Against North Korea

  

  william ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2014 @ 01:44pm

  Re: Re:

  Lol, I like the QR code idea.
  
  What I meant is, North Korea doesn't really have a "internet" to speak of.
  
  So you can't launch a cyber attack on a non-existing network.

• On the post: Rep. Mike Rogers, On His Way Out Of Congress, Slams Obama For Not Launching Premature Cyberwar Against North Korea

  

  william ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2014 @ 10:51am

  North Koreans don't care your Capitalist Pigs launching your precious "Cyber attacks".
  
  You cannot attack what doesn't exist, so the joke is on you. hahaha.

• On the post: Ridiculously Misinformed Opinion Piece In WSJ Asks Apple And Google To Make Everyone Less Safe

  

  william ( profile ), 24 Nov, 2014 @ 01:09pm

  It's shocking that a journalist believes privacy or anonmity are not important. Was he really a journalist or a hack?
  
  Since he doesn't believe in privacy or anonymity, and trust the government/NSA so much, I would like Mr. Corvitz to put all his past sources and tipsters' name in a big spreadsheet and store it on a shared network drive on his computer, while emailing a copy to himself for safekeeping.
  
  No one would be looking, scout's honor.

• On the post: NY Police Commissioner Bill Bratton Latest To Complain About Phone Encryption

  

  william ( profile ), 22 Oct, 2014 @ 04:36pm

  “It does a terrible disservice to law enforcement, and maybe to the public” he said. “It really does impede our investigation because now we have to get off our asses and do some actual work instead of looking through someone's naughty pictures on their phone! Oh the horrors!"
  
  There, fixed it for you.

• On the post: China Turns From 'Pirate' Nation To Giant Patent Troll

  

  william ( profile ), 20 Oct, 2014 @ 12:41pm

  I think this could be a blessing in disguise.
  
  Maybe, just maybe when the Chinese government is at your door with a ram, ready to bust it open, meaningful changes to the law will be made.
  
  One can only hope.

• On the post: FBI Wants To Know If Applicants Have Been Downloading Unauthorized Content

  

  william ( profile ), 15 Oct, 2014 @ 03:50pm

  good luck finding any young 'uns that's good at IT and is "clean".
  
  good luck to y'all.

• On the post: Apple Facing Trial Over Whether Its Use Of DRM Violated Antitrust Laws

  

  william ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2014 @ 01:33pm

  Is it just me, or does anyone seem similarity of this with the Keurig coffee case

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