:Lobo Santo 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Biden Administration Shouts ‘ONE MORE YEAR! ONE MORE YEAR!’ As Section 702 Stalemate Continues

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 01 Mar, 2024 @ 02:19pm

    Random Insight on Law, Intents, Good, and Evil

    (sorry, mildly grand title) It occurs to me, that on paper, good and bad governance could look much the same--laws lauded with phrases like "for the children," "for the greater good," "in support of our people's rights," or "in defense of our nation," and so on. Perhaps a great deal of how good or bad a nation is comes down to the aggregate of who uses the laws, literally "for what and how" are the laws used? Is it possible that a nation which appears a utopian democracy (if one looks shallowly at the laws) could actually be a fascist feudalism, with secret police stealing anything they like and breaking into peoples' houses in the middle of the night with impunity, and lords and baron living in comfor while their serfs struggle to survive? And perhaps laws which should make a country looks like a socialist/communist backwater may result in a place with the highest average happiness on the planet? I ponder if perhaps the issue isn't laws, but people and culture. There's no order but what we make. No justice, just us.

  • On the post: Lindsey Graham's Latest Attack On Section 230: Reform It By 2023, Or We Take It Away

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 16 Dec, 2020 @ 08:12pm

    - The Late Reply -

    Let us think for a moment on last century's media paradigm:

    A first-class lane for content "streamed" in full-color to the home--cable tv
    and a second-class lane for people to use to contact their equals and "betters"--telephone.

    Now, contrast with the internet: Everybody has a voice.

    Any citizen can speak out on any available platform and be seen by very nearly the entirely world. Or at least, a majority of our countrymen.

    In this context, let us ask again, why would politicians (or those behind them) want to put an end to Section 230 for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act?

    To quote Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality: "To understand the object of an obscure plot, observe its consequences and ask who might have intended them."

    In my opinion, somebody is playing a long game in an attempt to return to the status quo of the few having the power to broadcast, and the many having only what little they are allowed.

  • On the post: Microsoft: Bethesda Games Will Be 'First, Best' On Xbox, PC

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 21 Nov, 2020 @ 11:08am

    All the best

    |Bethesda... will be best.

    Allow me to reply with an honest and heartfelt rebuttal based upon decades of experience and interaction with Bethesda products:

    Ha ha ha ha ha ha he he ha ha!! Snort giggle tee-hee oh gawd, my sides... I can't breathe...

    Thank you, that is all.

  • On the post: This Week In Techdirt History: October 25th – 31st

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 31 Oct, 2020 @ 08:03pm

    Re: AC (hearts) old comments.

    also, i (mostly) love reading old comments.
    Oh man, then I guess I must respond to that! While there are comments older than mine, there aren't many. ;-)

  • On the post: New Bill Calls For An End To PACER Fees, Complete Overhaul Of The Outdated System

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 17 Sep, 2020 @ 05:22pm

    Business Opportunity!!

    (insert money sound here).

    I wonder, if somebody were to pick a given court, pay the fee to download every docket/page, and then offer them up on a website with good search and a reasonable monthly fee, could they turn a profit on the endeavor?

  • On the post: Tinpot Administration Is Apparently 'Building Dossiers' On Journalists Who Criticize Trump

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 02 Sep, 2020 @ 08:08am

    Inverted Lists

    Wouldn't it be faster and easier to list the people who're aren't critical of Trump?

  • On the post: Regulators Are Ignoring How Low Orbit Satellite Broadband Is Trashing The Night Sky

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2020 @ 12:17pm

    Salutatory for Satellits.

    So, yes, there's an opportunity cost to putting up a great number of low-orbiting satellites.

    That said, it's looking like SpaceX may actually pull it off. There's people beta testing their satellite internet presently.

    We all know the broadband space is in desperate need of disruption, and if a satellite internet provider can do so, I'd like to say "more power to them!"

    Even better, we've got more than one competitor in the space (no pun)!

    In the future, I expect using satellites for astronomic observation will become more common, which completely ameliorates the ground-level photography issue. On top of that, there's a ton of cpu-drive techniques for getting non-static objects out of images.

    We have so much to gain, and ready solutions to every complaint. We should be going full-steam ahead on satellite internet, in my opinion.

  • On the post: Office Depot And Partner Ordered To Pay $35 Million For Tricking Consumers Into Thinking They Had Malware

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 02 Apr, 2019 @ 06:19pm

    What's that sound?

    Oh yes, it's a slap on the wrist.

  • On the post: Verizon Throttled The 'Unlimited' Data Plan Of A Fire Dept. Battling Wildfires

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2018 @ 06:44am

    Re: "Who cares about a fire, I've got a data plan to sell!"

    If ever there were something to rally public support of Net Neutrality around, this may very well be it.

    "Verizon cares more about money than lives".

    or perhaps:

    "Verizon would be fine with watching you burn to death unless you pay(?)"

    Many, the hatchet piece which could be written based upon this...!

  • On the post: A Senator Says U.S. Broadband Maps 'Stink.' Here's Why Nobody Wants To Fix Them.

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 21 Aug, 2018 @ 09:26am

    Re: This should be easy to crowdsource

    Since this is likely going to be a recurring problem, make it a question on the decennial census.

  • On the post: Net Neutrality And The Broken Windows Fallacy

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 20 Jun, 2018 @ 10:09am

    Re: Except is nothing like your phrase. -- Just more predictive FUD.

    Yes! Anonymous Coward is right! Surely, having slid in the tip, there's no way the cable companies (see: ISPs) will then continue to see how far they can stretch your money-orifice all while having no concern as to your discomfort. Certainly, there's no way we'll ever end up with bullshit like having hundreds of channels, all "packaged", and all filled with garbage content--for the low low price of over $120 per month, in a handy non-negotiable package. Plus, AC in his comparison to religions and tornados and volcanos... wow! He's right! After huge events, people will die and we'll abandon our faith but maybe after a few generations, the PTSD will have tapered off to the point where we believe our post-volcanic world is "normal". Damn, AC, you're some kind of philosopher-king! Have you thought about running for Parliament in Zurich? You'd be great!

  • On the post: Think The GDPR Only Regulates Big Internet Companies? The EU Says It Regulates You Too.

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 20 Jun, 2018 @ 09:31am

    Re: What a #&*#$&#!! mess...

    One wonders at what point it becomes more economical to simply deny service to certain countries with overly silly laws...

  • On the post: As Intermediary Liability Is Under Attack, Stanford Releases Updated Tool To Document The State Of Play Globally

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 17 May, 2018 @ 01:12am

    I think we're becoming Cardassia...

    (a fictional planet & race from Star Trek: Deep Space 9)

    I specifically remember a scene where the Doctor says to Garak, "I'm sick of these Cardassian mystery novels. There's no mystery, everybody is always guilty!".

    Garak replies: "Of course, Doctor, the mystery is: who is guilty of what?"

    - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    Can you imagine the world we'll create if this becomes common and normal? Nobody will start a new internet business unless they can already afford cutting-edge censorship techniques and an army of lawyers.

  • On the post: Bill Introduced To Prevent Government Agencies From Demanding Encryption Backdoors

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 17 May, 2018 @ 12:50am

    More Better!

    Rather than a law, we should enshrine something like this into the United States Constitution via Amendment.

  • On the post: Gaming Industry And Game Consumers On A Collision Course Over Loot Boxes

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 09 May, 2018 @ 05:10pm

    Re: Re:

    Also, Factorio (in case you haven't tried it).

  • On the post: Cord Cutting Is The Obvious Result Of A 70% Spike In Cable TV Prices Since 2000

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 07 May, 2018 @ 10:04am

    The blunder

    If I ever accidentally manage to win one of those mega-jackpots, I'm going to start a new hobby of making companies that charge reasonable fees for service, just so I can fooking eat the lunch of companies that do this shyte.

    Even if the stupid overcharging assholes match prices with me for a time (until I can be gotten rid of), there will at least be a fair price for a while.

  • On the post: ACLU: If Americans Want Privacy & Net Neutrality, They Should Build Their Own Broadband Networks

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 12 Apr, 2018 @ 04:38pm

    Overwatch

    I wonder if anybody has seriously put forward that data (internet) should be regulated in the same manner as water and electricity.

  • On the post: Supreme Court Says Shooting A Non-Threatening Person Without Warning Is Just Good Police Work

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2018 @ 08:44am

    With Apologies

    I'm going to have to go against the flow on this one. If you are armed and shoot somebody in self-defense, then you've done nothing illegal.

    Under modern precedent, you may, in defense of somebody else's life, take any action you would take in defense of your own life.

    QED: The officer shot a person who seemed to present a danger to the life and limb of another person. What they did in this situation would have been legal for anybody to do.

  • On the post: Project Gutenberg Blocks Access In Germany To All Its Public Domain Books Because Of Local Copyright Claim On 18 Of Them

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 09 Mar, 2018 @ 08:58pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Not the whole story -- now includes ZOMBIES!

    Thanks!

    Had a desk job back then. These days I lurk and listen to the podcast. Glad you're still busy advocating for sense.

  • On the post: Project Gutenberg Blocks Access In Germany To All Its Public Domain Books Because Of Local Copyright Claim On 18 Of Them

    :Lobo Santo ( profile ), 07 Mar, 2018 @ 08:35am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Not the whole story -- now includes ZOMBIES!

    Nope, just been busy.

    Thanks though, I haven't been called an AI before!

    Is this one of those "takes on to know one" things?

    Are you an AI?

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