W Klink 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (103)

• On the post: The Fine Bros Plan Is Actually Pretty Cool If You Get Past How They Announced It

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2016 @ 01:35pm

  Ellen

  It's still really not at all clear to me what their "format" is or how it's in any way unique. Even in their call to attack Ellen, they acknowledged that she may not have "known" that she was copying them but that she needed to be "educated."
  
  I understand the idea that you can have a trademark on certain elements of a show, so while anyone can do a "talent show," having the judges turn their chairs when they like you or stand up and hit a gong if they don't might be elements that can be trademarked. But showing kids something and asking them questions? That is so obvious that Art Linkletter was doing it on the radio in 1945.

• On the post: Senators Up In Arms Over State Department Plan To Deliberately Ignore Malaysian Mass Graves Just To Get TPP Deal

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 16 Jul, 2015 @ 06:53am

  Already sold...

  Well, no, four of those that signed the letter (Bennet, Portman, Rubio and Wyden) had voted yes for fast track. Their leader, Menendez, didn't even vote on the deal at all! They signed away their integrity with a blank check and they're not getting it back now.
  
  The rest were opposed to the deal from the beginning, so attacking it now isn't about principles, it's just about reminding their base how they voted.

• On the post: Team Prenda Has A Very Bad Day In Court… And You Can Watch It All

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 06 May, 2015 @ 09:00am

  Re: Super Lawyer not so super

  Yeah, I get the feeling Pregerson has the same views about "Super Lawyers" and advertising. Pregerson seemed to be openly mocking Voelker and that got Tallman laughing along. @1:30:48

• On the post: Team Prenda Has A Very Bad Day In Court… And You Can Watch It All

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 06 May, 2015 @ 08:41am

  Judge Pregerson

  It's worth watching just to hear judge Pregerson's slow, rambling diversions about the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton and the origin of the phrase "not to put too fine a point on it," among others.

• On the post: South Carolina Says It's A Felony For Prisoners To Look At Facebook; Sends Many To Solitary Confinement

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 13 Feb, 2015 @ 06:37am

  External communications

  How is using Facebook to communicate any different than using a cell phone (also forbidden). If the story was about prisoners getting solitary for using a cell, I don't think there'd be any outrage. OTOH, why don't they just block Facebook?

• On the post: Law Enforcement Wants Google To Cripple Waze Because It Lets The Mean Old Public 'Stalk' Police Officers

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 27 Jan, 2015 @ 12:13pm

  New feature request

  Waze should add the ability to report livestock on the road, like horses, cows, and pigs.

• On the post: Judge To Aereo: Hey, Didn't The Supreme Court Make It Clear That You Guys Are Dead?

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 16 Oct, 2014 @ 03:17pm

  Twisted opinion

  To be fair to the judge, the Supreme Court's opinion was so twisted that it's clear to everyone that the Court was tailoring it's decision to wipe Aero out. It doesn't really matter what they do, the Supremes will find a new twist. It's not based on logic or the law, they've already decided...

• On the post: Law Professor Claims Any Internet Company 'Research' On Users Without Review Board Approval Is Illegal

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2014 @ 12:27pm

  Re: No more A/B testing without IRB approval!

  ...if you intend to publish a research paper and use federal money (which Facebook did).

• On the post: Law Professor Claims Any Internet Company 'Research' On Users Without Review Board Approval Is Illegal

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2014 @ 12:25pm

  Re:

  "Facebook wasn't doing its research for the purpose of contributing to generalizable knowledge..."
  
  Facebook collaborated with Cornell University and published a journal article published by the National Academy of Sciences.

• On the post: Law Professor Claims Any Internet Company 'Research' On Users Without Review Board Approval Is Illegal

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2014 @ 12:18pm

  Re: Federal Funds?

  "Facebook is using federal funds for the research?
  I doubt it..."
  
  Their study was published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America," so it's safe to assume that there was some federal money involved.

• On the post: True Detective Accused Of Plagiarizing Horror Author Because Characters Sounded Similiar

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 14 Aug, 2014 @ 02:48pm

  Re: No, you're wrong, Tim. This is a clear-cut case of plagiarism.

  The ironic thing is that a zine dedicated to Lovecraft condemns a TV show for "plagiarizing" ideas from Ligotti, but they're completely thrilled that Ligotti lifts ideas and themes from Lovecraft.

• On the post: Court Fines French Blogger $3,400 For Her Negative Review Of Local Italian Restaurant, Il Giardino

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 15 Jul, 2014 @ 08:38am

  Why not demand a positive review

  Think of how much business they lost because they didn't get a positive review. Sure, the negative review may have kept some customers away, but a positive review would have actually brought in additional customers. I don't understand why these missing customers weren't included in the calculation of lost (potential) revenue.
  
  If anyone can claim that a negative review cost them money, then clearly a lack of positive reviews is also costing money.

• On the post: Appeals Court Says Using Open WiFi May Be A Crime

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2014 @ 08:40am

  Just get a warrant...

  I can't understand why they decided to skip the warrant. They thought about it and they had the time. It doesn't seem likely that a warrant would be denied. And if a warrant WAS denied, then the same court that denied the warrant would have likely been more inclined to have required one. On the other hand, if they DID get a warrant, much of this delay would have been gone and there would be less risk of the defendant getting off. What's the down side with getting a warrant? Why, when they have an abundance of probable cause, do police still try to skip this step?

• On the post: If Comcast CEO Brian Roberts Really Believes Netflix Gets Bandwidth For Free, Will He Pay Netflix's Bandwidth Bill?

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 30 May, 2014 @ 01:50pm

  Paying for mail

  I don't actually pay anything to receive mail in my mailbox, and I don't know anyone who has been told that they receive too much mail and they're being cut off or charged extra.

• On the post: Horrific Appeals Court Ruling Says Actress Has Copyright Interest In 'Innocence Of Muslims,' Orders YouTube To Delete Every Copy

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 26 Feb, 2014 @ 08:53pm

  Re: Great ruling the Court

  Any time someone declares that "you won't find a bigger defender," you can be sure that they are anything but.
  
  The First Amendment was not created to protect the freedom to say what everyone else already agrees with, it was created to protect the unpopular opinions. In this country, there is no such thing as an "illegal political comment."

• On the post: Congress Moves to Ban In-Flight Cell Calls, Blowhards at 30,000 Feet

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 12 Feb, 2014 @ 05:31pm

  Re: What about those inplane phones that were common in the '90s?

  You can still use those phones: "(B) LIMITATION- The termmobile communications device' does not include a phone installed on an aircraft.'." -- Bill Text

• On the post: Cops Subject Man To Rectal Searches, Enemas And A Colonoscopy In Futile Effort To Find Drugs They Swear He Was Hiding

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 06 Nov, 2013 @ 08:41am

  Re:

  "was this the first time this kind of thing has happened in this county?"

  
  KOB4 has your answer: "Another man, another minor traffic violation, another incident with Leo the K-9 and another example of the violation of a man's body."
  -- http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S3210356.shtml

• On the post: Former DHS/NSA Official Attacks Bruce Schneier With Bizarre, Factually Incorrect, Non-sensical Rant

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2013 @ 02:07pm

  Re:

  http://ireport.cnn.com/about.jspa
  
  "Everything you see on iReport starts with someone in the CNN audience. The stories here are not edited fact-checked or screened before they post."

• On the post: The NSA Is Dianne Feinstein's And Mike Rogers' Abusive, Cheating Spouse

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 28 Aug, 2013 @ 01:09pm

  Or maybe the NSA isn't really that stupid...

  The NSA has the ability to literally monitor every phone call, email and all internet activity of anyone. Abuses are self-reported.
  
  What are the chances that the NSA is NOT monitoring the heads of the committees that fund them? And what are the chances that a career politician (44 years for Feinstein; 19 for Rogers) never made a single transgressions that they would rather keep private?

• On the post: Former NSA Lawyers Attack Senator Wyden For Hinting At NSA Surveillance Excesses That Are Now Confirmed

  

  W Klink ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2013 @ 08:34am

  Kneel before Zod!

  It seems like the fundamental dispute is that the spooks seem to think Wyden took an oath of allegiance, whereas Wyden believes that he merely took an oath of secrecy.

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