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This Week In Techdirt History: May 31st - June 6th
Five Years Ago
This week in 2015, one court was apparently forgetting the First Amendment exists while ordering a newspaper to delete an articl.
2020-06-06 21:05:04
Techdirt.com
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No, California Law Review, Food Plating Does Not Deserve Copyright Protection
Of all the mediums where intellectual property makes the least amount of sense, actual food and drink must certainly be among the most absurd. Not t.
2020-06-06 05:03:30
Techdirt.com
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Twitter Taking Down Trump Campaign Video Over Questionable Copyright Claim Demonstrates Why Trump Should Support Section 230
Here's an interesting tidbit: the latest move by Twitter to deal with a tweet related to President Trump is that it pulled down a Trump campaign vid.
2020-06-05 22:02:57
Techdirt.com
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Coronavirus Surveillance Is Far Too Important, And Far Too Dangerous, To Be Left Up To The Private Sector
Months into the global pandemic, governments, think tanks, and companies have begun releasing comprehensive plans to reopen the economy while the wo.
2020-06-05 21:03:50
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The 2020 Adobe Graphic Design School
The 2020 Adobe Graphic Design School has 3 courses to help you learn more about top Adobe apps and elements of graphic design. The first course cove.
2020-06-05 20:03:26
Techdirt.com
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If The NY Times Doesn't Publish My OpEd On Why James Bennet Is An Incompetent Dweeb, It Must Hate Free Speech
Buckle up, because this one is going to be quite the long road trip, and I hope you won't rush to the comments without joining me on the entire jour.
2020-06-05 19:03:31
Techdirt.com
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Norway Supreme Court Signs Off On Apple's Harassment Of An Independent Repair Shop
Apple has never looked too kindly upon users actually repairing their own devices. The company's ham-fisted efforts to shut down, sue, or otherwise .
2020-06-05 16:03:32
Techdirt.com
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Nextdoor Is Courting Cops And Public Officials Using All-Expenses-Paid Trips To Its Headquarters
A COP IN EVERY HOUSE: that's the American dream. Maybe they can't enter the home, what with the Fourth Amendment and all, but they can be invited to.
2020-06-05 12:56:37
Techdirt.com
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After Taming Open Access, Academic Publishing Giants Now Seek To Assimilate The World Of Preprints
As Techdirt has reported, the open access movement seeks to obtain free access to research, particularly when it is funded by taxpayers' money. Natu.
2020-06-05 05:22:06
Techdirt.com
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Guinness World Records People Accidentally Claiming Copyright On Tons Of 'Super Mario Bros.' Speedruns
Even a cursory review of just the headlines on our posts about YouTube's ContentID will demonstrate a theme. That theme mostly centers around how th.
2020-06-05 00:50:21
Techdirt.com
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Think Of The Kitten: A Crash Course On Section 230
We are so hip here at Techdirt that we've been writing about Section 230 long before it was cool. But even though everyone and their President seems.
2020-06-04 22:48:37
Techdirt.com
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Major Publishers Sue The Internet Archive's Digital Library Program In The Midst Of A Pandemic
For many years, we've said that if the public library were invented today, the book publishers would sue it out of existence. It appears that the bi.
2020-06-04 21:09:59
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: FRESHeBUDS Pro Magnetic Bluetooth Earbuds
The hit FRESHeBUDS earbuds are back and better than ever with the new Pro model. Even more water and sweat resistant to stand up to any outdoor acti.
2020-06-04 19:52:48
Techdirt.com
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5G Conspiracy Idiots Now Threatening Telecom Workers That Don't Even Work In Wireless
On one end, you've got wireless carriers implying that 5G is some type of cancer curing miracle (it's not). On the other hand, we have oodles of con.
2020-06-04 15:33:36
Techdirt.com
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The Military Is Being Tapped To Handle Domestic Protests, Something It's Not Really Equipped To Handle
With protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd by Officer Derek Chauvin erupting all over the nation, states are beginning to ask the National.
2020-06-04 12:41:35
Techdirt.com
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Wisconsin Court Dumps Conviction Of Middle School Kid Who Drew A Picture Of A Bomb
The intersection of school administration and law enforcement leads directly to insanity. All logic goes out the window when school administrators c.
2020-06-04 00:35:08
Techdirt.com
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Dallas PD Asks Residents To Snitch On Protesters, Gets A Load Of K-Pop Videos Instead
Once again, the people that serve the public have failed to understand the public. Trying to turn citizens into narcs never works out as well as gov.
2020-06-03 22:55:14
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Learnable -- Learn to Code, Build Apps, Websites & More
Gaining new knowledge doesn't have to be hard. In fact, it can be easy and fun. Learnable is an eLearning platform providing you with handpicked les.
2020-06-03 20:12:59
Techdirt.com
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Copyright Blocks Interview Of Protesters Because Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On' Was Playing In The Background
Another day, another example of copyright acting as censorship. The folks over at Unicorn Riot have been covering the protests around the country, b.
2020-06-03 20:12:59
Techdirt.com
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Net Neutrali-what? AT&T's New Streaming Service Won't Count Against Its Broadband Caps. But Netflix Will.
For a long time, we've noted how broadband usage caps are bullshit. They don't actually help manage congestion, they have nothing to do with "fairne.
2020-06-03 15:32:37
Techdirt.com
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Private Prison Company Sues Netflix Over Use Of Logo In 'Messiah'
When we last talked about the Geo Group, a company making hundreds of millions of dollars running private prisons, one of its executives was attempt.
2020-06-03 04:58:44
Techdirt.com
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Federal Court Says Sneaking A Warrantless Peek At A Cellphone Lock Screen Violates The Fourth Amendment
Keep your mitts off cellphones if you don't have a warrant. That's the message at least one court is sending to law enforcement. A 2014 decision by .
2020-06-03 00:55:06
Techdirt.com
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Techdirt Podcast Episode 244: Section 230 & Trump's Executive Order
This week, we've got a special cross-post from 16 Minutes On The News — an excellent tech podcast by a16z that's well worth subscribing .
2020-06-02 22:56:28
Techdirt.com
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Just As The Copyright Office Tries To Ignore The Problem Of Bad Takedowns, NBC & Disney Take Down NASA's Public Domain Space Launch
The recent Copyright Office report on Section 512 of the DMCA (the notice and takedown provisions) has been frustrating on many levels, including th.
2020-06-02 21:21:47
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Ultimate Learn To Play Piano Bundle
The Ultimate Learn To Play Piano Bundle has 10 courses designed to take your music skills from beginner to advanced. You'll learn Music Theory, how .
2020-06-02 19:53:24
Techdirt.com
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Facebook's Oversight Board Can't Intervene, So Stop Asking
As Facebook employees stage a digital walk-out and make their thoughts known about the social media giant's choice to not intervene in any way on "p.
2020-06-02 19:53:24
Techdirt.com
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New Study Finds No Evidence Of Anti-Conservative Bias In Facebook Moderation (If Anything, It's The Opposite)
Over the last few months, it's been weird to watch how any time we point out that there's no actual evidence of anti-conservative bias in the conten.
2020-06-02 18:36:48
Techdirt.com
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AT&T's Streaming Headaches Continue As Contract Feuds Keep New TV Service Off Amazon, Roku
So we've noted repeatedly how AT&T's entry into the video space hasn't gone according to plan. First, the company spent so much money on merger.
2020-06-02 15:49:52
Techdirt.com
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Bangladeshi Government Decides There's No Time Like The Present To Censor/Arrest More Journalists
We can't have nice things. We can't even have mediocre things. And, in the midst of a global pandemic, we can't even have basic things. The Banglade.
2020-06-02 12:51:07
Techdirt.com
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Cops -- Newly Wary Of Looking Like Authoritarian Assholes -- Open Fire On, Arrest Journalists
There was a window of opportunity for cops following the George Floyd killing. Floyd, suspected of nothing more than passing a fake $20 bill, was ki.
2020-06-02 02:48:10
Techdirt.com
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Clearview Says Section 230 Immunizes It From Vermont's Lawsuit Over Alleged Privacy Violations
Clearview is currently being sued by the attorney general of Vermont for violating the privacy rights of the state's residents. As the AG's office p.
2020-06-01 22:50:35
Techdirt.com
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Giving People Property Rights In Data Will Not Solve Privacy, But...
Online privacy can’t be solved by
giving people new property rights in personal data. That idea is
based on a raft of conceptual errors. But.
2020-06-01 21:48:52
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The 2020 All-in-One Data Scientist Mega Bundle
Businesses, small to big enterprises, depend on data science. It's a field responsible for evaluating and interpreting data, statistics, and trends .
2020-06-01 19:49:07
Techdirt.com
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Joe Biden Wastes A Huge Opportunity To Support Free Speech; Still Wants To 'Revoke' Section 230
Joe Biden had a golden opportunity to actually look Presidential, and stand up for free speech and the 1st Amendment at a moment when our current Pr.
2020-06-01 19:49:07
Techdirt.com
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In The Midst Of A Pandemic And Widespread Unrest, Senate Republicans Think It's Time To Use Copyright To Make The Richest Musicians Richer
There's kind of a lot going on in America right now -- what with widespread protests about police violence (leading to more police violence), and we.
2020-06-01 18:48:02
Techdirt.com
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Arizona AG Sues Google For Location Data Failures, After Telecom Got A Wrist Slap For Far Worse Behavior
Two years ago, an investigation by the Associated Press and Princeton computer scientists found that Google services on both Android and Apple routi.
2020-06-01 15:51:28
Techdirt.com
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California Anti-SLAPP Law Gives Rachel Maddow An Early Exit From Conservative News Network's Bogus Libel Lawsuit
The only news network further to the right than Fox News has just seen its baseless libel lawsuit against MSNBC host Rachel Maddow dismissed under C.
2020-06-01 12:47:43
Techdirt.com
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Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
We've got a double winner this week, with That One Guy taking first place for both insightful and funny with some thoughts on Trump's social media e.
2020-05-31 22:06:55
Techdirt.com
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Sale Ends Tomorrow! Last Chance To Get CIA: Collect It All for 25% Off
Get 25% off your copy of CIA: Collect It All withthe code STAYINSIDE until tomorrow night »
This weekend is your last chance to save .
2020-05-30 21:08:17
Techdirt.com
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Professional Race Car Driver Hires Expert Gamer To Race His Video Game Car
The esports momentum due to the COVID-19 pandemic isn't slowing down. And one of things many people are learning now that they're either spectating .
2020-05-30 05:02:28
Techdirt.com
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Last Minute Addition To Louisiana Bill Hamstrings Community Broadband
We've long noted that roughly twenty states have passed laws either outright banning community broadband, or tightly restricting such efforts. The v.
2020-05-30 02:26:47
Techdirt.com
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District Court Mostly Refuses To Terminate The Litigation Testing The Copyright Termination Provision
The decision this post discusses, Waite v. Universal Music Group, came out at the end of March, but, as one of the leading cases litigating the term.
2020-05-30 00:51:12
Techdirt.com
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No, Twitter Fact Checking The President Is Not Evidence Of Anti-Conservative Bias
I know we've gone through this a bunch already, but there remains no evidence to support the claims of "anti-conservative bias" at major social medi.
2020-05-29 23:32:18
Techdirt.com
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Can You Protect Privacy If There's No Real Enforcement Mechanism?
Privacy laws can have a lot of moving pieces from notices and
disclosures, opt-in and opt-out consent requirements to privacy
defaults and user co.
2020-05-29 22:33:00
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Hands-On Game Development Bundle
The Hands-On Game Development Bundle has 10 courses of instruction on using various platforms and languages to develop your own games. You'll learn .
2020-05-29 20:08:23
Techdirt.com
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Trump's Final Executive Order On Social Media Deliberately Removed Reference To Importance Of Newspapers To Democracy
We wrote a detailed breakdown of the President's silly, nonsensical, legally wrong Executive Order regarding social media yesterday. A few hours lat.
2020-05-29 19:10:00
Techdirt.com
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Fighting The Free Speech Digital Divide Requires Interoperability and Privacy Protection
When people mention the digital divide, often they're referring to the divide between people who have access to the internet and those who do not. H.
2020-05-29 18:11:00
Techdirt.com
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DC Appeals Court Dumps Lawsuit Claiming Multiple Tech Companies Are Engaged In An Anti-Conservative Conspiracy
Early last year, a federal court dumped a lawsuit filed by alt-right figureheads Laura Loomer and Freedom Watch (Larry Klayman's organization) alleg.
2020-05-29 15:58:04
Techdirt.com
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New Zealand Government Seeking To Expand Its Internet Censorship Powers
New Zealand has been in the censorship business for years, but the government appears to believe it's still not doing enough censoring. Legislation .
2020-05-29 12:44:28
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Accredited Agile Project Management Bundle by SPOCE
The Accredited Agile Project Management Bundle by SPOCE is designed to equip users with the know-how they need to master Agile project management, P.
2020-05-28 20:35:59
Techdirt.com
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Mark Zuckerberg's Ridiculously Wrong, Misleading, And Self-Serving Statements Regarding Twitter Fact-Checking The President
As we continue to deal with the fallout of our thin-skinned President throwing a hissy fit over Twitter daring to provide more context to conspiracy.
2020-05-28 20:35:59
Techdirt.com
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Ron Wyden: It's Time Congress Helped Americans Protect Their Privacy
Americans today are faced with a dilemma – there is a vast universe of products to let us control everything in our lives with a voice command or .
2020-05-28 18:05:23
Techdirt.com
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Local Broadcasters Forget Journalism Ethics, Air Amazon PR Fluff Instead
While US journalism is certainly in crisis mode, it's particularly bad on the local level, where most local newspapers and broadcasters have been ei.
2020-05-28 15:36:52
Techdirt.com
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German Constitutional Court Says Unjustified Surveillance Of Foreign Citizens Is Illegal
The German government pretended to be bothered by the NSA's spying when the Snowden leaks began, claiming surveillance of overseas allies was someho.
2020-05-28 12:34:53
Techdirt.com
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With Theaters Closed, The Trailer For Christopher Nolan's 'Tenet' Debuts In Fortnite Instead
With the explosion of the video game industry and the technology that has come along with it, it's starting to get really fun to see what creative m.
2020-05-28 06:17:31
Techdirt.com
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When The Problem Isn't Twitter But President Trump
President Trump is not happy with Twitter. But a lot of other people were already unhappy with Twitter. As his tweets have grown more abusive by the.
2020-05-28 03:03:50
Techdirt.com
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Hell Hath No Fury Like A Federal Law Enforcement Agency That Keeps Finding Some Way To Break Into IPhones
Nothing has made the FBI more irritated than its ability to break into phones it swears (often in court!) it cannot possibly get into without the de.
2020-05-27 21:14:33
Techdirt.com
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Trump, Twitter, And Free Speech
Content moderation at scale is impossible to do well. But, also content moderation of a world leader spewing blatant conspiracy theories may be just.
2020-05-27 19:44:58
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: ChronoWatch Multi-Function Smart Watch
ChronoWatch has all the features you need. It has 16 main functions including activity tracking, sleep monitor, message and call notification, alarm.
2020-05-27 19:13:42
Techdirt.com
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Introducing The Tech Policy Greenhouse: Let's Have Thoughtful Conversations About The Biggest Tech Policy Challenges
Today we're introducing something very new: the Tech Policy Greenhouse. This is a project that I've been working on for about two years now, and I'm.
2020-05-27 18:05:14
Techdirt.com
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AT&T Won't Stop Lying About 'Fake 5G'
Big wireless carriers haven't been exactly honest when it comes to the looming fifth-generation wireless standard (5G). Eager to use the improvement.
2020-05-27 15:34:59
Techdirt.com
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A Mess In The House: Dirty Pool As Rep. Schiff Inserts Loophole To Help The FBI Spy On You
As the debate continues over the renewal of some Patriot Act provisions for NSA surveillance techniques, the House now has a chance to correct a fai.
2020-05-27 03:54:56
Techdirt.com
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Judge Sends Devin Nunes' SLAPP Suits Against CNN And Washington Post Off To Their Proper Venues
It appears that at least one judge handling Devin Nunes' various SLAPP suits in Virginia has caught on to at least some of what's going on here. Jud.
2020-05-27 01:07:30
Techdirt.com
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Senate Talking Points Say Warrantless Collection Of Internet Use Data Keeps Terrorists From Killing Us
The Senate tried and failed to erect a warrant requirement for the FBI's collection of US citizens' internet browsing data. The amendment to the FIS.
2020-05-26 22:35:58
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The 2020 Complete Facebook Marketing Masterclass
Marketing isn't simple. The 2020 Complete Facebook Marketing Masterclass is here to give you step-by-step simple strategies to gain targeted followe.
2020-05-26 20:34:20
Techdirt.com
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If You're Reporting On Trump's Supposed Plans For 'Anti-Conservative Bias' Panel, Shouldn't You Mention The 1st Amendment?
Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that "President Trump is considering establishing a panel to review complaints of anti-conservati.
2020-05-26 20:34:20
Techdirt.com
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So Wait, People Really Think The Barr DOJ's Investigation Into Google Is In Good Faith?
Late last week, news emerged that the DOJ would likely be bringing a massive antitrust lawsuit against Google. Reports suggest this is the culminati.
2020-05-26 15:46:21
Techdirt.com
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One Week Left To Get CIA: Collect It All For 25% Off
Get 25% off your copy of CIA: Collect It All withthe code STAYINSIDE until the end of May »
If you're running out of things to keep y.
2020-05-23 21:03:57
Techdirt.com
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The Great Pizza Arbitrage Scheme Of 2020 Is Spotlighting The Strangeness Of Food Delivery Services
Food delivery services always felt a bit wonky to me. I'm usually not terribly old fashioned about most things, but I generally understood that some.
2020-05-23 05:05:22
Techdirt.com
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Why Content Moderation Codes Are More Guidelines Than Rules
Also, following on my last post: since the First Amendment protects site moderation and curation decisions, why all the calls to get rid of CDA 230'.
2020-05-22 22:53:36
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: UV Sterilizer with Wireless Charger
The UV Sterilizer lets you clean your phone while charging it. Using UV-C light, it kills germs and bacteria up to 99.99% without all the harmful he.
2020-05-22 19:53:20
Techdirt.com
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On The Same Day The FBI Claimed No Vendor Could Crack IPhones, Another Way To Crack IPhones Made The News
At the same time the FBI director was claiming the private sector (other than Apple) couldn't help agents break into encrypted iPhones, the private .
2020-05-22 18:51:28
Techdirt.com
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New Study Tries, Fails, To Claim Community Broadband Is An Inevitable Boondoggle
For years a growing number of US towns and cities have been forced into the broadband business thanks to US telecom market failure. Frustrated by hi.
2020-05-22 15:45:56
Techdirt.com
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We Lose A Lot When Podcasts Go Closed Instead Of Open
Just last week, Ben Thompson's excellent Stratechery site had a great post describing the important differences between open and free, specifically .
2020-05-22 12:45:06
Techdirt.com
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Yes, This Site Uses Cookies, Because Nearly All Sites Use Cookies, And We're Notifying You Because We're Told We Have To
If you're visiting our site today (and I guess, forever into the future if you don't click "got it") you will now see a notification at the bottom o.
2020-05-22 02:38:28
Techdirt.com
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Let's Talk About 'Neutrality' -- And How Math Works
So if the First Amendment protects site moderation and curation decisions, why are we even talking about "neutrality?"
It's because some of the.
2020-05-22 00:49:05
Techdirt.com
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Court Tells Grandma To Delete Photos Of Grandkids On Facebook For Violating The GDPR
We've talked for many years now about the overreach of the GDPR and how its concepts of "data protection" often conflict with both concepts of free .
2020-05-21 21:29:19
Techdirt.com
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House Democrats Have The Power To Protect Our Web Surfing From Warrantless FBI Searching; Instead, They're Pointing Fingers
You would think that House Democrat leaders like Speaker Pelosi and Reps. Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, who helped lead the impeachment effort again.
2020-05-21 19:46:18
Techdirt.com
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As Congress Looks To Give FBI Broad Powers To Sniff Through Your Browsing History Sans Warrant, Wyden Asks ODNI How Often It's Used
The Wyden Siren is blaring. If you're unfamiliar, Senator Wyden has a pretty long history of what is generally known as Wyden Siren letters to the D.
2020-05-21 19:18:10
Techdirt.com
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Verizon Tries To Temper 5G Enthusiasm After Report Clearly Shows US 5G Is Slow, Lame
For the better part of two years, Verizon has insisted that fifth-generation wireless (5G) would revolutionize everything. Simply by upgrading from .
2020-05-21 15:39:30
Techdirt.com
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More Than A Game: The COVID-19 Pandemic Has Turned Esports Into An Economy Of Its Own
One of the dangers when we talk about esports and its rapid growth, particularly during this pandemic, is that those not in the know can see this as.
2020-05-21 04:34:07
Techdirt.com
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The Case For Contact Tracing Apps Built On Apple And Google's Exposure Notification System
Apple and Google have now released their update to their mobile operating systems to include a new capability for COVID-19 exposure notification. Th.
2020-05-21 00:43:56
Techdirt.com
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Techdirt Podcast Episode 243: The .ORG Deal Post-Mortem, With Mike Godwin
We're back! It's been a while since the last podcast, for obvious reasons, but today we've got a new episode following up on something we disc.
2020-05-20 23:15:35
Techdirt.com
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Our New Blog Series Exploring Tech In The Time Of COVID
It should be no secret at all that the world is a different place than it was just a few months ago, thanks to the novel coronavirus and the disease.
2020-05-20 21:20:20
Techdirt.com
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Emergency Room Doctor: Getting Best COVID-19 Treatment Ideas Via WhatsApp
The excellent podcast Radiolab has been running some shorter (from its normal fare) "dispatches" from the pandemic that have been quite interesting,.
2020-05-20 21:20:20
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Big Think Edge Lectures
Big Think Edge is an unparalleled library of video lessons created by educators and taught by world-class experts like Malcolm Gladwell and Arianna .
2020-05-20 20:24:40
Techdirt.com
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How Most Of The Anti-Internet Crew Misread The News That The NY Times Is Getting Rid Of 3rd Party Advertisers
One of the most frustrating aspects of discussing the internet, business models, and privacy is how many otherwise intelligent people continue to in.
2020-05-20 20:24:40
Techdirt.com
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Libraries Have Never Needed Permission To Lend Books, And The Move To Change That Is A Big Problem
There are a variety of opinions concerning the Internet Archive's National Emergency Library in response to the pandemic. I've made it clear in mult.
2020-05-20 18:51:41
Techdirt.com
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Beware Of Op/Eds Falsely Claiming The US Internet Only Works During A Pandemic Because Lobbyists Neutered The FCC
In recent weeks, the telecom sector and FCC allies have been busy trying to claim that the only reason the US internet still works is because the FC.
2020-05-20 15:49:07
Techdirt.com
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London's Facial Recognition Rollout Trips Over The Pandemic As Facemasks Render The System Even More Useless
The rollout of London's facial recognition cameras -- hundreds of them -- is being held up by unexpected developments. No, it's not the efforts of l.
2020-05-20 12:44:01
Techdirt.com
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No, CDA 230 Isn't The Only Thing Keeping Conservatives Off YouTube
Over the last year or so, there's been a surge of claims that Google, Twitter, YouTube, etc. are "biased against conservatives."
The starting p.
2020-05-19 22:56:30
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Premium Cisco CCNA & CCNP Certification Prep Bundle
The Premium Cisco CCNA and CCNP Certification Prep Bundle has 7 courses to help prepare you for certifications in networking, routing, and switching.
2020-05-19 20:14:51
Techdirt.com
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France Is About To Waste A Ton Of Money Trying To Build Its Own Airbnb
It's no secret that the French government seems to hate big internet companies. It's spent years attacking them from basically every angle -- they a.
2020-05-19 20:14:51
Techdirt.com
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Idiots Begin Attacking US 5G Cell Towers Because, Idiots
On one end, you've got wireless carriers claiming that 5G is some type of cancer-curing miracle (it's not). On the other hand, we have oodles of con.
2020-05-19 15:32:27
Techdirt.com
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It's Impossible To Opt Out Of Android's Ad Tracking; Max Schrems Aims To Change That
Most of the world has been under some form of lockdown for weeks, but that clearly hasn't stopped the indefatigable Austrian privacy expert Max Schr.
2020-05-19 04:46:30
Techdirt.com
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Review Of Working Futures
Order your copy of Working Futures today »
It's been over six months since we released Working Futures, our collection of speculative fictio.
2020-05-19 01:04:39
Techdirt.com
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Hungary's Government Using Pandemic Emergency Powers To Silence Critics
Every emergency brings with it the temptation for governments to grant themselves extra powers while they deal with the current crisis. When the cor.
2020-05-18 22:41:40
Techdirt.com
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Content Moderation At Scale Is Impossible: Google Removes Podcast Addict From Play Store Because It Has COVID-19 Related Podcasts
Today's example of the Masnick Impossibility Theorem is quite a doozy. Podcast Addict, a very popular mobile podcast player, says that Google remove.
2020-05-18 21:10:51
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Complete Content Creator Bundle for YouTube
The Complete Content Creator Bundle for YouTube will help you learn how to reach millions of users with 10 YouTube training courses. You'll learn ho.
2020-05-18 20:10:58
Techdirt.com
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Covid-19 Just Triggered The Worst Quarter Ever For Cable TV 'Cord Cutting'
2019 saw a record number of consumers ditch traditional cable television. 2020 was already poised to be even worse, and that was before a pandemic c.
2020-05-18 15:34:47
Techdirt.com
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Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is an anonymous commenter responding to some questions about the Ohio workers the governmen.
2020-05-17 21:05:22
Techdirt.com
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This Week In Techdirt History: May 10th - 16th
Five Years Ago
This week in 2015, the backlash was coming in to the appeals court ruling that put a dent in NSA surveillance, with politicians .
2020-05-16 21:13:54
Techdirt.com
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Hey, Epic, If you're Going To Boldly Give Away A Historically Popular Game For Free, Make Sure You Can Handle The Demand
The Epic Store is still around, still rocking its exclusivity deals with game publishers, and is still trying really hard to unseat Valve's Steam as.
2020-05-16 05:01:16
Techdirt.com
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As Some Are Requiring People To Give Up Their Info To Dine, Stories Of Creeps Abusing That Info Come Out
I think many of us are going to avoid eating at sit-down restaurants for the foreseeable future, even if governments deem them to be "safe." However.
2020-05-15 22:33:14
Techdirt.com
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Disney: If We Can't Run Club Penguin, No One Can Run Club Penguin
Disney's overly aggressive copyright bullying strikes again. Apparently, Disney has decided that if Disney can't run Club Penguin in a way that peop.
2020-05-15 21:17:59
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Naztech Ultimate Power Station -- Qi Wireless + 5 USB + 4,000mAh Battery
Featuring a sophisticated wireless charger, a 5 USB charging hub, and an ultra-compact portable battery, the Naztech Ultimate Power Station is your .
2020-05-15 19:43:56
Techdirt.com
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Canadian Wireless Carriers Making A Killing During COVID-19, Won't Remove Caps 'For Safety'
Canadians already pay some of the highest prices for mobile data in the developed world thanks to limited competition and feckless regulators. With .
2020-05-15 15:11:34
Techdirt.com
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Senate Passes Surveillance Reauthorization Bill 80-16 -- One Stripped Of Almost All Of Its Reforms
The Senate voted today to give us five more years of pretty much unaltered surveillance. The reauthorization of key spy powers is back on again, aft.
2020-05-15 12:22:18
Techdirt.com
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Copyright Making Sure That MTV Remains An Irrelevant Relic, Rather Than A Cultural Icon
For those of us of a certain age, MTV defined culture. It was where we learned about not just music, but wider pop culture. Of course, MTV lost its .
2020-05-14 23:49:45
Techdirt.com
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FCC Forced To Fine Sinclair $48 Million For Bullshitting Regulators
Last year when Sinclair attempted to acquire Tribune Broadcasting for a cool $3.9 billion, you might recall the company was accused of some highly d.
2020-05-14 21:47:56
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: MindMaster Mind Mapping Software
MindMaster is a versatile, user-friendly, and professional mind mapping tool, designed for creating fresh new visual innovations. MindMaster helps y.
2020-05-14 19:51:23
Techdirt.com
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Judge Tells Devin Nunes' Dad (And Lawyer Stephen Biss) To Put Up Or Shut Up In Defamation Lawsuit Over Esquire Article
Remember, Rep. Devin Nunes really doesn't want you to read this Esquire article entitled, Devin Nunes's Family Farm Is Hiding a Politically Explosiv.
2020-05-14 19:51:23
Techdirt.com
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Uh Oh: FBI Serves Search Warrant On Senator Richard Burr, Seizes His Phone
I'm wondering how Senator Richard Burr feels about phone encryption right about now? As you may recall, the notoriously pro-surveillance Senator has.
2020-05-14 18:50:19
Techdirt.com
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Bill Would Ban Broadband Shutoffs Until COVID-19 Pandemic Eases
A few weeks back, the Trump FCC put on a big show about a new "Keep America Connected Pledge." In it, the FCC proudly proclaimed that it had gotten .
2020-05-14 15:31:12
Techdirt.com
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Everyone Agrees That Contact Tracing Apps Are Key To Bringing COVID-19 Under Control; Iceland Has Tried Them, And Isn't So Sure
Given the massive impact that the coronavirus is having on life and the economy around the world, it's no wonder that governments are desperately se.
2020-05-14 12:34:46
Techdirt.com
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National Geographic Defeats Trademark Suit Over 'Wild America' and 'Untamed Americas' Claim
There is always tension between the First Amendment and trademark law, but it's a tension that is usually dissolved by trademark's primary aims to k.
2020-05-14 05:04:54
Techdirt.com
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North Carolina Supreme Court Overturns Awful Decision By Appeals Court, Says Giving The Finger To Cops Isn't A Crime
Last August, the North Carolina Court of Appeals decided it was OK for police officers to use protected speech as the basis for retaliatory stops. T.
2020-05-14 01:03:26
Techdirt.com
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Reuters Report Shows How The Supreme Court Has Turned Qualified Immunity Lawsuits Into A Rigged Game
Reuters has published an in-depth report on qualified immunity, the Supreme Court-created legal doctrine that allows law enforcement officers to avo.
2020-05-13 22:29:25
Techdirt.com
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One Vote Short: FISA Amendment Requiring Warrants For Browser & Search Data Fails
As noted yesterday, Congress this week is considering a new bill (the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act of 2020) that would not only renew already wid.
2020-05-13 21:01:04
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Fundamental Drawing Bundle for Beginners
The Fundamental Drawing Bundle for Beginners has 12 courses covering traditional and digital mediums to help bring out the artist in you. Courses co.
2020-05-13 19:55:00
Techdirt.com
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Ohio Government Asks Companies To Snitch On Employees, Gets Hit With Auto-Generated Bogus 'Tips' Instead
Asking citizens to snitch on other citizens never seems to work out very well. The federal government has been doing it for years, maintaining "See .
2020-05-13 12:41:51
Techdirt.com
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ISPs Finally Lifted Data Caps. It Only Took A Global Pandemic
During the catastrophic 2018 wildfires in California, Verizon made a painful and memorable gaffe: It throttled the Santa Clara Fire Department&rsquo.
2020-05-12 23:21:57
Techdirt.com
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Unpublished Guidelines Show The DHS Is Steering States Away From Insecure Internet Voting Options
The DHS has come out against internet voting. Sort of.
If there's anything less secure than electronic voting, it's internet voting. The tempta.
2020-05-12 21:17:02
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Complete Ableton Live 10 Music Production Bundle
Ableton Live is one of the most important tools in music production today, and the Complete Ableton Live 10 Music Production Bundle is your ticket t.
2020-05-12 19:49:59
Techdirt.com
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Even As The GOP Whines About Illegal 'Deep State' Surveillance, It's Preparing To Give More Surveillance Powers To The FBI
We've been pretty critical of federal surveillance powers going back, well, as long as we can remember. And while Trump's biggest supporters like to.
2020-05-12 18:50:58
Techdirt.com
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'Smart' Home Platform Wink Changes The Deal, Suddenly Imposes Subscription Fees
Time and time again we've highlighted how in the modern era you don't really own the hardware you buy. In the broadband connected era, firmware upda.
2020-05-12 15:40:22
Techdirt.com
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National Intelligence Report Shows The FBI Never Gets Warrants For Its Backdoor Searches Of NSA Collections
The Intelligence Community's latest transparency report [PDF] contains even more evidence of the FBI's inability to follow the law when helping itse.
2020-05-12 12:39:16
Techdirt.com
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Finnish Hockey League Championship Decided Via Stand-In Esports Playoff
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been discussing for some time that esports is having itself a moment. The reason for that is obvious: .
2020-05-12 04:40:58
Techdirt.com
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Arrest Numbers Show The NYPD Is Handling Pandemic Enforcement With The Same Biased Enthusiasm It Put Into Stop And Frisk
You can take the stop-and-frisk out of the NYPD, but you can't remove the biased policing, as the old saying goes. The NYPD may have been forced to .
2020-05-11 21:10:12
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Essential Guide to Starting a Business Bundle by Evan Kimbrell
The Essential Guide to Starting a Business Bundle by Evan Kimbrell features 12 courses to teach you what you need to know to get your business up an.
2020-05-11 20:08:14
Techdirt.com
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Facebook's Supreme Court Is In Place... And Everyone Hates It, Because Facebook Makes Everyone Hate Everything
Facebook seems to really dislike it when people refer to its Oversight Board as the Facebook Supreme Court, but it's just too good a name not to use.
2020-05-11 20:08:14
Techdirt.com
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In Response To Getting Sued, Clearview Is Dumping All Of Its Private Customers
This is the first good news we've heard from Clearview since its exposure by Kashmir Hill for the New York Times back in January. In response to a l.
2020-05-11 18:36:37
Techdirt.com
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Study Shows US 5G Is An Over-hyped Disappointment
We've noted for a while that the "race to 5G" is largely just the byproduct of telecom marketing departments and lobbyists hoping to spur lagging sm.
2020-05-11 15:36:52
Techdirt.com
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This Week In Techdirt History: May 3rd - 9th
Five Years Ago
This week in 2015, the big fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao was overshadowed in some circles by the resultant f.
2020-05-09 22:31:12
Techdirt.com
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Twitter Making It Easier To Study The Public Discussions Around COVID-19
There has been a lot of talk about how this moment in history is going to be remembered -- and as Professor Jay Rosen has been saying, a key part is.
2020-05-09 04:44:49
Techdirt.com
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Court Of Appeals Affirms Lower Court Tossing BS 'Comedians In Cars' Copyright Lawsuit
Six months ago, which feels like roughly an eternity at this point, we discussed how Jerry Seinfeld and others won an absolutely ludicrous copyright.
2020-05-09 00:48:42
Techdirt.com
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What A Coincidence! Same Day Senator Burr Dumped His Stock, So Did His Brother-in-Law!
Senator Richard Burr's potential insider trading issues, for which he's being investigated, may have gotten quite a bit worse this week. A new repor.
2020-05-08 23:05:06
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The 2020 Excel Certification School Bundle
Microsoft Excel is one of the most widely used applications in business. It's the backbone for almost all companies. Why? Because Excel helps you ac.
2020-05-08 19:59:42
Techdirt.com
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COVID-19 Is Exposing A Virulent Strain Of Broadband Market Failure Denialism
A few weeks ago, the US telecom industry began pushing a bullshit narrative through its usual allies. In short, the claim revolves around the argume.
2020-05-08 15:52:33
Techdirt.com
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Tales From The Quarantine: People Are Selling 'Animal Crossing' Bells For Real Cash After Layoffs
This seems to be something of a thing. Our last "Tales From the Quarantine" post focused on how television celebrities had taken to offering people .
2020-05-08 12:47:32
Techdirt.com
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As More Students Sit Online Exams Under Lockdown Conditions, Remote Proctoring Services Carry Out Intrusive Surveillance
The coronavirus pandemic and its associated lockdown in most countries has forced major changes in the way people live, work and study. Online learn.
2020-05-08 04:35:10
Techdirt.com
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Sketchy Gets Sketchier: Senator Loeffler Received $9 Million 'Gift' Right Before She Joined The Senate
Kelly Loeffler is, by far, the wealthiest elected official in Congress, with an estimated net worth of half a billion dollars (the second wealthiest.
2020-05-08 01:28:17
Techdirt.com
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Utah Pulls Plug On Surveillance Contractor After CEO's Past As A White Supremacist Surfaces
A couple of months ago, a records request revealed a private surveillance contractor had access to nearly every piece of surveillance equipment owne.
2020-05-07 23:16:14
Techdirt.com
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No, Congress Can't Fix The Broken US Broadband Market In A Mad Dash During A Pandemic
COVID-19 has shone a very bright light on the importance of widely available, affordable broadband. Nearly 42 million Americans lack access to any b.
2020-05-07 20:45:06
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: LingvaNex Translator
Lingvanex Translator was created with the mission to enable people to read, write, and speak different languages anywhere in the world. It can trans.
2020-05-07 20:14:53
Techdirt.com
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Amazon Sued For Saying You've 'Bought' Movies That It Can Take Away From You
For well over a decade we've talked about the many problems that arise when copyright is compared to "property" -- and people try to simply move ove.
2020-05-07 19:14:13
Techdirt.com
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New AT&T CEO Says You're A Moron If You Don't Use AT&T Streaming Services
Last week AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson stepped down after his $150 billion bid to dominate the video advertising space fell flat on its face. St.
2020-05-07 15:50:43
Techdirt.com
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Fans Port Mario 64 To PC And Make It Way Better, So Of Course Nintendo Is Trying To Nuke The Project
I'm lucky enough to own a decades old Nintendo 64 and a handful of games, including the classic Mario 64. My kids love that game. Still, the first t.
2020-05-07 04:20:46
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The 2020 Ultimate Work From Home Starter Kit
The 2020 Ultimate Work From Home Starter Kit has 16 courses designed to help you do your best while you work from home. There are courses on how to .
2020-05-06 19:56:32
Techdirt.com
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Appeals Court Says Prosecutors Who Issued Fake Subpoenas To Crime Victims Aren't Shielded By Absolute Immunity
For years, the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office in Louisiana issued fake subpoenas to witnesses and crime victims. Unlike subpoenas used in.
2020-05-06 19:56:32
Techdirt.com
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Hedge Fund 'Asshole' Destroying Local News & Firing Reporters Wants Google & Facebook To Just Hand Him More Money
Have you heard of Heath Freeman? He's a thirty-something hedge fund boss, who runs "Alden Global Capital," which owns a company misleadingly called .
2020-05-06 18:56:39
Techdirt.com
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'Job Creating' Sprint T-Mobile Merger Triggers Estimated 6,000 Non-Covid Layoffs
Back when T-Mobile and Sprint were trying to gain regulatory approval for their $26 billion merger, executives repeatedly promised the deal would cr.
2020-05-06 16:07:00
Techdirt.com
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The Oscars Ends DVD Screeners For Reasons Other Than Piracy, Which Will Of Course Continue
Oscars DVD screeners, the DVDs that get sent out to judges that are up for an award, have been an on again, off again topic for years at Techdirt. T.
2020-05-06 05:49:18
Techdirt.com
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The Decentralized Web Could Help Preserve The Internet's Data For 1,000 Years. Here's Why We Need IPFS To Build It.
The internet economy runs on data. As of 2019, there were over 4.13 billion internet users generating more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data per da.
2020-05-06 00:51:28
Techdirt.com
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After Months Of Incompetence, 'Smart' Pet Feeder Company PetNet Falls Apart, Blames COVID-19
Back in February, $130 "smart" pet feeders from a company named PetNet simply stopped working. When customers reached out to the company to complain.
2020-05-05 22:50:46
Techdirt.com
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Remix Culture Done Right: Wes Tank Mashes Up Dr. Seuss With Dr. Dre (And So Far The Copyright Police Have Left Him Alone)
A few days back I saw a friend share an incredible video on YouTube of a guy in Milwaukee named Wes Tank, rapping Dr. Seuss's "Fox in Sox" over Dr. .
2020-05-05 21:26:52
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The 2020 Adobe Graphic Design School
The 2020 Adobe Graphic Design School has 3 courses to help you learn more about top Adobe apps and elements of graphic design. The first course cove.
2020-05-05 19:55:46
Techdirt.com
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Court Tosses Former Sheriff Arpaio's Attempt To Relitigate His Libel Lawsuit The Court Tossed Last Year
When you lose a lawsuit -- as former Sheriff Joe Arpaio did last year -- you have a few options. Arpaio sued a few news outlets for defamation, alle.
2020-05-05 19:55:46
Techdirt.com
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Devin Nunes' Lawyer Facing Sanctions, While Nunes Himself May Have To Pay His Opponents' Legal Bills
It's been over a year since Devin Nunes kicked off his vexatious campaign to sue various critics. As you probably are aware, in that year he's sued .
2020-05-05 18:59:15
Techdirt.com
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Court Sides With Nike And Dismisses Kawhi Leonard's Lawsuit Over 'Klaw' Logo
Sometimes you turn out to be wrong. When we initially discussed Kawhi Leonard's lawsuit against Nike over the "Klaw" logo, I'd said I was interested.
2020-05-05 05:43:12
Techdirt.com
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Tim Bray, Early Internet Guru, And Amazon VP Quits Over The 'Chickenshit' Company's Targeting Of Employees Speaking Out About COVID-19
If you do anything internet related, hopefully you already know Tim Bray. Among tons of other things, he helped develop XML and a variety of other s.
2020-05-05 00:42:28
Techdirt.com
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Ring Docs Show Company Is Testing Consumer Enthusiasm For Facial Recognition, License Plate Reader Capabilities
It seems like Ring really wants to add facial recognition tech to its cameras. It employs a "Head of Facial Recognition Tech." It pitches this still.
2020-05-04 22:41:35
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Complete Developer And IT Pro Library -- Unlimited Access
Utilize the Complete Developer And IT Pro Library to master today's most in-demand IT and Software development skills. Now with this limited-time of.
2020-05-04 20:04:50
Techdirt.com
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Supreme Court Streams Oral Arguments Live For The First Time (Thanks To The Pandemic)
For over a decade now, we've been saying that the Supreme Court should absolutely stream its oral arguments live via the internet -- and for all tha.
2020-05-04 20:04:50
Techdirt.com
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Cambodian Government Using Fake News Law To Silence Critics And Coronavirus Reporting
In 2018, Cambodia's government passed a "fake news" law. It was enacted shortly before a general election, allowing the government to stifle critici.
2020-05-04 18:32:48
Techdirt.com
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Cable TV Customers Are Rightfully Pissed They're Still Paying For Cancelled Sports Programming
For years, consumers have been bitching about the high cost of sports programming as it pertains to your monthly cable bill. Especially for those wh.
2020-05-04 15:12:56
Techdirt.com
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Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side comes from James Burkhardt in response to someone questioning our use of "OK, Landlord" in .
2020-05-03 21:06:03
Techdirt.com
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This Week In Techdirt History: April 26th - May 2nd
Five Years Ago
This week in 2015, we learned more about one of the NSA's sweeping but useless surveillance programs, and about the stunning lac.
2020-05-02 21:28:23
Techdirt.com
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ICANN Board Blocks The Sale Of The .Org Registry
Last fall, we wrote about what appeared to be many of the sketchy details between the non-profit Internet Society (ISOC) agreeing to sell off the no.
2020-05-02 05:02:59
Techdirt.com
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If You're Complaining About COVID-19 Misinformation Online AND About Section 230, You're Doing It Wrong
I remain perplexed by people who insist that internet platforms "need to do more" to fight disinformation and at the same time insist that we need t.
2020-05-01 23:04:57
Techdirt.com
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Prisons Replace Ankle Bracelets With An Expensive Smartphone App That Doesn't Work
Tired: monitoring parolees with ankle bracelets. Wired: monitoring parolees with smartphone apps.
Maybe it will be a better idea someday, but t.
2020-05-01 21:34:51
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The QuickBooks 2020 Essentials Bundle
The QuickBooks 2020 Essentials Bundle has two courses to take you from beginner to bookkeeper with the popular accounting software. You'll start at .
2020-05-01 19:51:30
Techdirt.com
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Quibi Is What Happens When Hollywood Overvalues Content And Undervalues Community
As you may have heard (and may still being bombarded by ads for) recently, a new video streaming service called Quibi launched to much fanfare. The .
2020-05-01 19:51:30
Techdirt.com
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Comcast Graciously Extends Suspension Of Completely Unnecessary Data Caps
After pressure from consumer groups, major ISPs last month announced that they would be suspending all usage caps and overage fees for 60 days in re.
2020-05-01 16:01:36
Techdirt.com
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We're Saved! Company Claims It's Patented 'Containing the Spread of Disinformation' And Will Stop COVID-19 Disinfo
A friend sent over a press release announcement from a company called CREOpoint that claims it has patented "Containing the Spread of Disinformation.
2020-05-01 12:58:52
Techdirt.com
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Tales From The Quarantine: 'Queer Eye' Guy Now Offering Support And Advice On Your Video Game Home Furnishings
The COVID-19 crises has changed most of our lives. Working from home is now the norm for many, rather than a perk. Sports is mostly gone, replaced b.
2020-05-01 04:57:23
Techdirt.com
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China Tried To Get The EU Not To Release A Report On China's COVID-19 Disinformation Efforts
It's becoming an unfortunate regularity that we keep writing posts highlighting how China is trying to suppress criticism around the globe regarding.
2020-05-01 00:57:27
Techdirt.com
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Being Too Aggressive At Policing COVID-19 Disinformation Risks Breaking The Important 'Collective Sensemaking Process'
As the pandemic got worse and worse earlier this year, many internet platforms sprang into action -- spurred by many calls to do exactly this -- to .
2020-04-30 20:15:25
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Office
The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Office has 12 courses designed to help you gain fluency on the widely used office software suite. You'll .
2020-04-30 19:44:59
Techdirt.com
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EU Joins In The Bullying Of South Africa For Daring To Adopt US-Style Fair Use Principles
As part of its copyright reform, South Africa plans to bring in a fair use right. Despite the fact its proposal is closely modeled on fair use in Am.
2020-04-30 12:43:38
Techdirt.com
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HHS' New Spokesman So Good At Communications Strategy That He Thinks He Can Delete Tweets From The Internet
It never ceases to amaze me how often people that really should know better seem to think that they can simply remove their own histories from the i.
2020-04-30 04:28:18
Techdirt.com
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New Gear By Techdirt: OK, Landlord
Get your OK, Landlord gearfrom our store on Threadless »
Yesterday, we wrote about law professor Brian Frye's.
2020-04-29 22:49:17
Techdirt.com
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Game Of (Internet) Life: How Social Media Reacts To Questionable News
On April 11, Princeton mathematician and the inventor of "Game of Life" John Horton Conway passed away from the coronavirus. Known as a "magical gen.
2020-04-29 21:18:40
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Increase Your Google App Productivity with Google Script Bundle
The Increase Your Google App Productivity with Google Script Bundle has 7 courses to help you learn about Google Apps Script. Apps Script lets you i.
2020-04-29 19:55:41
Techdirt.com
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As We're All Living, Working, And Socializing Via The Internet... MIT Tech Review Says It Proves Silicon Valley Innovation Is A Myth
I get that people are getting a bit of cabin fever and perhaps that's impacting people's outlook on the world, but a recent piece by David Rotman in.
2020-04-29 18:56:01
Techdirt.com
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As Pandemic Exposes US Broadband Failures, FCC Report Declares Everything Is Fine
42 million Americans lack access to any kind of broadband whatsoever -- more than double official FCC estimates. Millions more can't afford broadban.
2020-04-29 15:47:07
Techdirt.com
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Reluctant To Block Embarrassing Coronavirus Material Held On GitHub, China Targets The People Who Put It There
Over the years, Techdirt has written many stories about the various forms that censorship has taken in China. The coronavirus pandemic has added an .
2020-04-29 12:58:29
Techdirt.com
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Federal Court Says Baltimore PD's High-Powered Aerial Surveillance Program Doesn't Violate The Constitution
Four years ago, the Baltimore Police Department unilaterally decided to put several eyes in the sky. The 192-million megapixel camera system capable.
2020-04-29 04:50:41
Techdirt.com
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TV 'Cord Cutters' Will Be The Majority By 2022
The broadcast and TV sector spent the last fifteen years trying to claim that TV cord cutting (cancelling traditional TV and going with streaming or.
2020-04-29 00:37:14
Techdirt.com
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Sean Hannity Hires Charles Harder To Threaten The NY Times And Its Reporters, Because Of Course He Does
Last month, Kara Swisher wrote an opinion piece for the NY Times ripping Sean Hannity and Fox News to shreds for convincing her mother that COVID-19.
2020-04-28 21:11:18
Techdirt.com
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OK, Landlord: If Copyright Supporters Are Going To Insist Copyright Is Property, Why Are They So Mad About Being Called Landlords?
After writing this post, we realized that the phrase would make a great t-shirt! So now you can get yourself some OK, Landlord gear from the Techdir.
2020-04-28 20:10:47
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Start-to-Finish Guide to Launching a Successful Podcast Bundle
The Start-to-Finish Guide to Launching a Successful Podcast Bundle has 9 courses designed to teach you what you need to know to get your own podcast.
2020-04-28 19:41:45
Techdirt.com
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Piracy Sees 'Unprecedented' Pandemic Bounce, But So Does All Media Consumption
With a large part of the planet on lockdown in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19, streaming video consumption has seen explosive growth. Streamin.
2020-04-28 15:57:50
Techdirt.com
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Disney Says If You Tweet #MayThe4th At It, You're Agreeing To A Disney Terms Of Use (You're Not)
A million and a half people are all sending this monstrosity to me. From patient zero of overly aggressive content ownership, the Twitter account of.
2020-04-28 12:51:27
Techdirt.com
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Court Tells Agency That Tried To Charge $1.5 Million For A Records Request It Now Owes The Requestor $12,000 In Fines
It's too bad it takes a lawsuit to free up supposedly "open" records. A few years ago, transparency group Reclaim the Records asked for some easy-to.
2020-04-28 05:43:08
Techdirt.com
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This Is My 50,000 Techdirt Post, And I'm Busy Working On 50,001
So here's a bit of a fun milestone. This blog post will be my 50,000th blog post on Techdirt, which is kind of insane when you think about it. I not.
2020-04-28 00:35:13
Techdirt.com
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New Jersey Corrections Officials (Temporarily) Banned Released Prisoners From Talking To Journalists
Our nation's prisons and jails are coronavirus incubators. Everyone inside is stacked on top of each other and the notion of "social distance" doesn.
2020-04-27 22:39:15
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Beelinguapp Language Learning App
Beelinguapp uses new techniques to help you learn to read a second language. It shows the same exact text in two languages, side by side. At the sam.
2020-04-27 20:07:27
Techdirt.com
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Israel's High Court Blocks Country's Hastily-Erected Domestic Coronavirus Surveillance Program
When the coronavirus crisis hit, several countries saw an opportunity to engage in/expand domestic surveillance. Unsurprisingly, China and Hong Kong.
2020-04-27 20:07:27
Techdirt.com
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US Patent Office: Supreme Court Made Us Reject More Patents, But We've Now Fixed That And Are Back To Approving Bad Patents
One of the most important Supreme Court rulings in the patent space is the so-called Alice ruling in 2014 which should have effectively spelled the .
2020-04-27 18:37:35
Techdirt.com
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Fancy That: Comcast's Network Holding Up Fine Without Usage Caps
For many years in the early aughts, broadband providers insisted they needed to impose usage caps and costly overage fees to help manage network con.
2020-04-27 15:43:07
Techdirt.com
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Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
This week, both our winners on the insightful side come in response to one particular comment from Australia's treasurer about the country forcing G.
2020-04-26 21:21:39
Techdirt.com
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This Week In Techdirt History: April 19th - 25th
Five Years Ago
This week in 2015, Sony was once again warning the media not to report on leaked emails — and they even sent a letter to T.
2020-04-25 21:05:30
Techdirt.com
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NHL Jumps On The Esports Bandwagon With Players Tournament, NHL Channel Broadcast
As we've been discussing, esports is having something of a moment during the COVID-19 shutdown. While it's been interesting to see the general uptic.
2020-04-25 01:20:16
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Daily Deal: TREBLAB Z2 Wireless Noise-Cancelling Headphones
The Z2's earned their name because they feature twice the sound, twice the battery life, and twice the convenience of competing headphones. Packed w.
2020-04-24 20:04:01
Techdirt.com
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From Tiger King To Censorship King: Copyright Lobbyist Cheers On SLAPP Copyright Suit Featured In Tiger King
If there's one thing that nearly everyone can agree on while locked down during this COVID-19 pandemic, it's that Netflix's show Tiger King is the m.
2020-04-24 18:34:08
Techdirt.com
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NY AG Opens Inquiry After Charter Spectrum Bungles Its Coronavirus Response
By and large, most major ISPs have handled the labor angle of COVID-19 relatively well, with giants like Comcast and AT&T offered hazard pay, a.
2020-04-24 15:43:20
Techdirt.com
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Australian Court Says Raid Of Journalist's Home Was Illegal... But Allows Federal Police To Keep The Evidence They Seized
Last year, the Australian government decided journalists just weren't feeling chilly enough. In response to the publication of leaked documents deta.
2020-04-24 12:33:43
Techdirt.com
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With Schools Shut Down, Educators Turn To Video Games To Help Educate Students
It's funny how fast things can change. With the exception of our recent stories on how esports has taken over the sporting world due to the COVID-19.
2020-04-24 04:33:36
Techdirt.com
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News Orgs Attack Big Tech For Being Bad For Privacy... While Their Lobbying Against Big Tech Will Harm Privacy
It's kind of difficult to take "privacy advocates" seriously if they're supportive of the EARN IT Act and its structure that would effectively enabl.
2020-04-24 02:27:49
Techdirt.com
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Space X Starlink Beta Starts In 6 Months, Bringing A Glimmer Of Hope To Crappy US Broadband Market
The US broadband market is a competitive mess. US telcos have routinely refused to upgrade their aging DSL lines, as the return on investment has ne.
2020-04-24 00:33:37
Techdirt.com
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News Orgs Attack Big Tech For Being Bad For Privacy... While Their Lobbying Against Big Tech That Will Harm Privacy
It's kind of difficult to take "privacy advocates" seriously if they're supportive of the EARN IT Act and its structure that would effectively enabl.
2020-04-23 21:33:31
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Google Analytics Certification Course
The Google Analytics certification is more than just a bullet point on your resume. This credential tells employers you're capable of mining solid, .
2020-04-23 20:04:32
Techdirt.com
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Canadian Publishing Group Says France Has The Right Idea, Presses For Its Own Google Tax
Canada is more than just a calmer, more apologetic version of the United States. It's its own thing. But, more accurately, it's a Britain + France t.
2020-04-23 20:04:32
Techdirt.com
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UNESCO Suggests COVID-19 Is A Reason To Create... Eternal Copyright
Yes, we've seen lots of folks using COVID-19 to push their specific agendas forward, but this one is just bizarre. UNESCO (the United Nations Educat.
2020-04-23 19:04:38
Techdirt.com
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AT&T Preps For Even More Cuts After $42 Billion+ In Trump Tax Cuts And Regulatory Favors
It seems like only yesterday that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson was promising on live television that if Trump followed through on his tax cuts, .
2020-04-23 15:40:59
Techdirt.com
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After 48 Years, DC Appeals Court Overturns Murder Conviction Based On FBI's Garbage 'Hair Match' Evidence
For decades, the FBI pushed junk science on the courts, resulting in the wrongful convictions of an untold number of people. It wasn't until 2009 th.
2020-04-23 05:07:46
Techdirt.com
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Australia Takes Its First Baby Steps On the Road To A Right-To-Repair Law, With A Consultation About Tractors
Techdirt has been writing about right-to-repair laws -- or, rather, their absence -- for many years now. A recent right-to-repair post concerned ven.
2020-04-23 01:12:05
Techdirt.com
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French Hypocrisy: Fines Google For Being Soft On Privacy; Now Angry That Google Won't Let It Spy On Users
We keep trying to explain to people that privacy is always about trade-offs, and arguing for privacy laws that protect "privacy" as if it's a consta.
2020-04-22 21:40:46
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Complete Cybersecurity Training Bundle
Digitization has conquered our lives, both personally and professionally — transporting almost all data into the vast world of internet, networks,.
2020-04-22 20:11:48
Techdirt.com
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Famed Law Professor Richard Epstein's Ever Changing Claims About How Many People Will Die From COVID-19
Richard Epstein is a very famous law professor, known for his "libertarian" take on the world. Lots of people who know him insist he's a brilliant l.
2020-04-22 18:40:47
Techdirt.com
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AT&T Provided FCC Bunk Broadband Availability Data Across 20 States
We've noted repeatedly that despite a lot of talk from U.S. leaders and regulators about the "digital divide," the United States doesn't actually kn.
2020-04-22 15:35:45
Techdirt.com
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Federal Court Dismisses Twitter's Long-Running Lawsuit Over NSL Reporting
All the way back in 2014, Twitter sued the DOJ over its National Security Letter reporting restrictions. NSLs are the FBI's weapon of choice in all .
2020-04-22 12:50:19
Techdirt.com
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Esports Milestone: Gambling On Esports Will Double To $14 Billion In 2020
We've chronicled the many milestones esports has hit on its way to becoming the mainstream cultural occurrence that it is today. From having partici.
2020-04-22 05:16:39
Techdirt.com
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Play At Home: CIA: Collect It All Is Now 25% Off
Get 25% off your copy of CIA: Collect It All withthe code STAYINSIDE until the end of May »
With tons of folks stuck at home looking .
2020-04-21 23:25:53
Techdirt.com
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Chinese Embassy Gets Briefly Suspended From Twitter; Insists 'Free Speech Must Be Honored' On Platform Banned Across China
Content moderation at scale is impossible to do well. By now we've established that pretty firmly. However, there's something deeply amusing to see .
2020-04-21 21:44:34
Techdirt.com
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New York's Governor Hands Down A Mask Mandate While The State's Anti-Mask Law Remains On The Books
The spread of the coronavirus throughout the nation is turning some old laws into new ridiculousness. One of the hardest hit areas in the US is New .
2020-04-21 20:05:43
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Complete Introduction to Software Engineering Bundle
The Complete Introduction to Software Engineering Bundle has 13 beginner-level courses on programming, app development, electronics, SEO, and more. .
2020-04-21 19:55:07
Techdirt.com
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Telecom's Latest Dumb Claim: The Internet Only Works During A Pandemic Because We Killed Net Neutrality
A few weeks ago, a new talking point popped up among telecom policy pundits opposed to net neutrality. They began claiming that the only reason the .
2020-04-21 15:30:59
Techdirt.com
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Texas Attorney General's Office Says It Can Toss People In Jail For Suggesting Coronavirus Fears Are A Legit Reason To Vote From Home
Just when we need our elected representatives to step up and get their collective shit together, they seem to be disintegrating as quickly as possib.
2020-04-21 12:25:27
Techdirt.com
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The Simpsons Shows Precisely How One Should Handle Derivative Homage Works
When it comes to derivative works, copyright in America has a long and storied history of stifling new and creative expression in favor of control b.
2020-04-21 05:33:04
Techdirt.com
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UPDATED: GDPR (Briefly) Blocked Grocers From Accessing Lists Of 'At Risk' People In Need Of Food Packages
Kind of a major update here: it appears the GDPR was likely not to blame for the delay in grocers getting lists of vulnerable citizens in need of fo.
2020-04-20 23:33:35
Techdirt.com
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Australia Gives Up Any Pretense: Pushes Straight Up Tax On Facebook & Google To Pay News Orgs
Last week we wrote about France's push to force Google to pay legacy news organizations for the high crime of... sending them traffic. That was some.
2020-04-20 23:02:57
Techdirt.com
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Another Federal Court Says Chalking Tires Is A Violation Of The Fourth Amendment
In one of the more surprising Fourth Amendment decisions ever handed down, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled "chalking" tires for parking enf.
2020-04-20 21:43:08
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Hands-On Game Development Bundle
The Hands-On Game Development Bundle has 10 courses of instruction on using various platforms and languages to develop your own games. You'll learn .
2020-04-20 20:02:52
Techdirt.com
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The Geopolitical Streisand Effect: The More China And The WHO Try To Silence Taiwan, The More Attention Its Success Fighting COVID-19 Gets
Last week, a full page advertisement appeared in the NY Times, that was crowdfunded by nearly 27,000 people (mostly from Taiwan), with the provocati.
2020-04-20 20:02:52
Techdirt.com
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Unshocking Report: Trump Admin Is Historically Terrible At Reining In Destructive Monopolies
You need only look at its treatment of the telecom industry to understand that the Trump administration doesn't give a flying damn about U.S. monopo.
2020-04-20 15:33:07
Techdirt.com
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This Week In Techdirt History: April 12th - 18th
Five Years Ago
This week in 2015, the White House was floating the idea of crypto backdoors while the Senate Intelligence Committee was finally.
2020-04-18 21:01:38
Techdirt.com
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Cybersecurity Firm Finds A Bunch Of Clearview's Secret Stuff Sitting Around In An Poorly-Secured Cloud Storage Bucket
As if we needed any further evidence that Clearview is a terrible company. The web-scraping, facial recognition provider has been pitching its unpro.
2020-04-17 22:56:23
Techdirt.com
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Iraq Joins China In Suppressing Journalism About COVID-19
We've been screaming from the rooftops about the need for more transparency regarding COVID-19, and tragically so many governments are going in the .
2020-04-17 21:31:45
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Keeper Unlimited Password Manager
Keeper is a cybersecurity and productivity app that ensures you stay protected and productive remotely. Protect your passwords and personal informat.
2020-04-17 20:01:11
Techdirt.com
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The Supreme Court Is Being Asked To End Questionable CFAA Prosecutions
The Supreme Court is being asked to resolve a circuit split on the reach of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The CFAA has done a lot of damage to s.
2020-04-17 20:01:11
Techdirt.com
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ISPs Ignore Toothless FCC Demand To Not Kick Users Offline During COVID-19
A few weeks back, the Trump FCC put on a big show about a new "Keep America Connected Pledge." In it, the FCC proudly proclaimed that it had gotten .
2020-04-17 15:31:45
Techdirt.com
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GDPR (Briefly) Blocked Grocers From Accessing Lists Of 'At Risk' People In Need Of Food Packages
The GDPR is a mess. Still. After nearly two years of existence, it hasn't done much to improve the privacy of the millions of Europeans it affects. .
2020-04-17 12:26:54
Techdirt.com
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One Consequence Of The COVID-19 Shutdown? This Is Esports' Moment
For the better part of a decade now, we've been discussing the growth of esports as a cultural thing. This genre of competition has hit milestone af.
2020-04-17 05:01:43
Techdirt.com
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Tracfone Made Up "Fictitious" Users To Defraud Taxpayers, FCC
For decades, big and small telecoms alike have abused the FCC Lifeline program, a fund that's supposed to help subsidize telecom connectivity for lo.
2020-04-16 23:01:32
Techdirt.com
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China's NBA Free Speech Debacle Turned Out To Be A Prelude To Its COVID-19 Denialism
Since time is a concept with increasingly less meaning, you may have forgotten that it’s been only five months, not five years, since the NBA&.
2020-04-16 21:55:52
Techdirt.com
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China's NBA Free Speech Debacle Turned Out To Be A Prelude To Its COVID-19 Deniailsm
Since time is a concept with increasingly less meaning, you may have forgotten that it’s been only five months, not five years, since the NBA&.
2020-04-16 21:25:22
Techdirt.com
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Defense Department Oversight Thwarted By Defense Department Officials Who Refused To Talk About Trump's Communications
Every presidential administration seems to make a game of thwarting oversight. The current one is no different. President Trump is setting himself a.
2020-04-16 20:26:05
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The All-Level AWS Cloud Professional Bootcamp
The All-Level AWS Cloud Professional Bootcamp has 6 courses to help you master AWS cloud essentials. You'll learn the terminology and concepts relat.
2020-04-16 19:55:49
Techdirt.com
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FCC Still Doesn't Know Where Broadband Is As It Eyes $9 Billion In New Subsidies
Despite what you might think, the U.S. government doesn't actually know where broadband is really available, which is kind of a problem when you con.
2020-04-16 15:26:54
Techdirt.com
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Dealing With COVID-19 Requires Radical Transparency In Research Results; China Is Going In The Opposite Direction
History has shown that important, innovative breakthroughs come from transparency, collaboration, and information sharing. Dealing with the COVID-19.
2020-04-16 12:34:24
Techdirt.com
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Is There Any Form Of Corruption Senator Burr Didn't Engage In?
Senator Richard Burr, the head of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee sure seems to be engaged in a bunch of sketchy looking activities. Firs.
2020-04-15 23:45:06
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Zuitte 50+ Tools for Entrepreneurs
Zuitte is your powerful suite of apps and tools that modern entrepreneurs like you actually need. Zuitte is purpose-built for the modern online entr.
2020-04-15 20:19:25
Techdirt.com
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Puerto Rico Decides The 1st Amendment Doesn't Apply To Its Citizens; Criminalizes 'Fake News'
Puerto Rico is a US territory and its citizens have been citizens of the United States since 1917. A little more than one hundred years later, the l.
2020-04-15 20:19:25
Techdirt.com
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Why Is The Copyright Office Celebrating That All Our Cute Pet Photos Are Locked Up Under Copyright?
This past Saturday was (apparently) "National Pet Day." I have pets and was unaware of this, but I'll survive. Anyway, the US Copyright Office thoug.
2020-04-15 19:13:40
Techdirt.com
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Dish's Wireless Network, A Cornerstone of the T-Mobile Merger, Is Already On Shaky Ground
If you recall, the biggest downside of the $26 billion Sprint T-Mobile merger was the fact that the deal would dramatically reduce overall competiti.
2020-04-15 16:02:08
Techdirt.com
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Ninth Circuit Says Man Can't Sue Officers Who Destroyed His Home To Capture An Unarmed Homeless Man
The nation's courts continue to disappoint citizens who've seen their homes destroyed by overzealous cops and their home-wrecking toys. If you're a .
2020-04-15 13:18:28
Techdirt.com
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All Sports Are Esports Now: The MLB The Show, Players Tournament Edition
For nearly a month now, since this coronavirus nightmare really began in America, we've been discussing how all sports have become esports, nearly o.
2020-04-15 04:39:11
Techdirt.com
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Signal Speaks Out About The Evils Of The EARN IT Act
Signal, the end-to-end encrypted app maker, doesn't really need Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. It can't see what everyone's saying v.
2020-04-15 00:48:22
Techdirt.com
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Florida Governor Responds To Lawsuit Over Coronavirus Infection Documents By Pressuring Newspaper's Law Firm To Drop The Suit
We're at a time when we need more transparency from our government officials than ever. And, of course, we're not getting it. The White House ordere.
2020-04-14 22:46:46
Techdirt.com
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Senator Tillis Angry At The Internet Archive For Helping People Read During A Pandemic; Archive Explains Why That's Wrong
A few weeks ago, we wrote about the misguided freakout by (mainly) publishers and some authors over the Internet Archive's decision to launch the Na.
2020-04-14 21:16:25
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Naztech Ultimate Power Station -- Qi Wireless + 5 USB + 4,000mAh Battery
Featuring a sophisticated wireless charger, a 5 USB charging hub, and an ultra-compact portable battery, the Naztech Ultimate Power Station is your .
2020-04-14 19:47:38
Techdirt.com
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French Government Says Google Must Pay French News Agencies For Sending Traffic Their Way
European publishers just can't punish themselves enough, apparently. News agencies experiencing downturns related to their inability to take advanta.
2020-04-14 19:17:29
Techdirt.com
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Chinese Government Bans 'Animal Crossing' After Hong Kong Gamers Stage Protests Inside The Game
China loves to censor. And residents of the country -- as well as those in Hong Kong who are now seeing China encroach on their democracy -- love to.
2020-04-14 18:47:52
Techdirt.com
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It Shouldn't Have Taken A Pandemic To Make Us Care About Crappy U.S. Broadband
For years politicians have paid empty lip service about the "digital divide," or the essential lack of broadband access and affordability. Yet for d.
2020-04-14 16:05:43
Techdirt.com
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French Government Says Google Must Pay French New Agencies For Sending Traffic Their Way
European publishers just can't punish themselves enough, apparently. New agencies experiencing downturns related to their inability to take advantag.
2020-04-14 12:35:26
Techdirt.com
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Esports Gets Local With Facebook's New DIY Tournament Tool
The evolution of esports has been in progress for some time now. Once met with chuckles and the rolling of eyes, now esports is big business. We've .
2020-04-14 05:35:28
Techdirt.com
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Brave Whistleblowers Are Being Punished For Saving Lives During A Pandemic
The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the importance of whistleblowers to a free and unfettered press. Throughout this emergency, it has been whist.
2020-04-14 01:02:39
Techdirt.com
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Oncologists Say The Absolute Best Information They're Getting These Days Comes From Twitter
It's become sort of a common refrain among many that social media is only good for spreading misinformation and disinformation. I've even seen some .
2020-04-13 23:02:40
Techdirt.com
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Kushner's COVID Task Force Is Looking To Expand The Government's Surveillance Of Private Healthcare Companies
Jared Kushner's shadowy coronavirus task force is still at work behind the scenes, bringing this country back to health by leveraging Kushner's inna.
2020-04-13 21:36:03
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The 2020 All-in-One Data Scientist Mega Bundle
Businesses, small to big enterprises, make good use of data science. It's a field responsible for evaluating and interpreting data, statistics, and .
2020-04-13 20:01:00
Techdirt.com
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Trump Campaign Actually Sues TV Station Over Anti-Trump Ad
A few weeks back, we noted that the Trump Campaign was sending threatening letters about a TV ad by the PAC Priorities USA that criticized Trump's h.
2020-04-13 20:01:00
Techdirt.com
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How Steak-umm Became The Tweeting Voice Of Reason In A Pandemic
Many, many years ago I wrote about the importance of recognizing that content is advertising and advertising is content. A key point I was making wa.
2020-04-13 19:00:50
Techdirt.com
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Want To Know Why U.S. Broadband Is A Bad Joke? Take a Close Look at Frontier Communications
In telecom policy circles, there's an army of "experts" who twist themselves into pretzels trying to pretend U.S. telecom is a healthy, normal, vibr.
2020-04-13 15:37:25
Techdirt.com
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Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is That Anonymous Coward with a response to our comment about how copyright filters work:
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2020-04-12 22:07:05
Techdirt.com
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Happy Birthday, Statute of Anne
Early in my legal career I had the opportunity to attend a conference in London organized to celebrate the launch of the Copyright History project. .
2020-04-11 05:01:32
Techdirt.com
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Apple, Google Join Forces To Create Free Tools For Coronavirus Tracking
Fortunately, the US government hasn't decided (yet!) to opt everyone into some sort of tracking program to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. T.
2020-04-11 01:08:23
Techdirt.com
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'Free Speech' Supporter Jerry Falwell Jr. Thinks It's Criminal To Report On His Dumb And Dangerous Response To The Pandemic
Jerry Falwell Jr., the nepotistic hire to be President of the religious extremist Liberty University, has long pretended to be an avid free speech s.
2020-04-10 21:21:39
Techdirt.com
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Opening Up Information In A Pandemic, Rather Than Locking It Down: The Open COVID Pledge Is Important
People who are actually engaged in real innovation know that the real breakthroughs and advancements don't come from solitary geniuses having a eure.
2020-04-10 20:16:09
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Cudoo Pro Online Learning
Cudoo Pro Online Learning is the world's first one-for-one eLearning community offering more than 800 online courses spanning languages, entrepreneu.
2020-04-10 19:46:51
Techdirt.com
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Court Dumps Almost All Of A New York Sax Player's Lawsuit Against Fortnite Over Use Of His 'Likeness'
Last year, a New York saxophonist decided Fortnite was going to make him rich. He wasn't going to livestream his gameplay or join the development te.
2020-04-10 18:45:44
Techdirt.com
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Senator Loeffler, Already Accused Of Pandemic Insider Trading, Will Convert All Individual Stock Holdings To Managed Funds
Over the last few weeks there's been tremendous attention paid to the prophetic timing of stock sales by two Senators: Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffl.
2020-04-10 00:36:26
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Ultimate Cybersecurity Bundle
The Ultimate Cybersecurity Bundle has 9 courses to help you master network monitoring, pentesting, routing techniques, and more. You’ll learn .
2020-04-09 19:49:15
Techdirt.com
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As Record Labels Still Are Demanding Mandated Filters; Facebook's Copyright Filter Takes Down A Guy Playing Bach
We've been covering a bunch of nonsense copyright stories lately, as the pandemic has really done quite a job in demonstrating the complete inanity .
2020-04-09 18:45:27
Techdirt.com
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Verizon Quietly Stops Doing Broadband Installs, Repairs During COVID-19
So far the broadband industry has done a notably good job keeping their networks running during the COVID-19 quarantine. That said, some ISPs have b.
2020-04-09 15:56:36
Techdirt.com
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NSO Fires Back At Facebook, Says It's Not Responsible For Malware Deployments By Foreign Governments
NSO Group has finally decided to engage in the lawsuit Facebook filed against it late last year. The Israeli surveillance tech company has shown its.
2020-04-09 12:45:31
Techdirt.com
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Anti-Piracy Copyright Lawyer Decides To Abuse Trademarks To Shut Down Pirates
One of the most consistent aspects of lawyers who crusade against copyright infringement is just how inconsistent their views on "the law" are. Copy.
2020-04-09 07:45:04
Techdirt.com
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FTC Just Sent Over $1 Million To People Scammed By 'Patent Marketing' Company The Former AG Matt Whitaker Was Involved With
Not many people noticed this, but last week, the FTC announced that it was sending more than $1 million in "refunds" to people duped by the scam com.
2020-04-09 00:02:00
Techdirt.com
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It Will Take A Hell Of A Lot More Than Whatsapp Tweaks To Fix Our Global Disinformation Problem
With increased regulatory pressure surrounding the platform's ability to help distribute disinformation (often to bloody and disastrous effect), Fac.
2020-04-08 21:59:57
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Coding with Python Bundle
The Coding with Python Bundle has 6 courses geared to help you learn one of the most popular programming languages. You'll start with the basics and.
2020-04-08 19:53:22
Techdirt.com
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Largest Hospital System In The US Threatens To Fire Doctors & Nurses For Telling The Truth About COVID-19 Disaster
Last week we talked about just how insane it was that hospital administrators were threatening and/or firing doctors and nurses for speaking out pub.
2020-04-08 19:53:22
Techdirt.com
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Content Moderation Is Impossible: Facebook's Attempts To Block Mask Gouging Took Down DIY Face Mask Instructions
Content moderation at scale is impossible to do well. The latest example? Facebook's rules to takedown content deemed to be people trying to price g.
2020-04-08 18:55:36
Techdirt.com
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Jon Cusack The Latest Celebrity To Spread Nonsense About 5G
Conspiracy theories have always plagued the deployment of new wireless technology. WiFi has no proven impact on human health, yet it has been a boge.
2020-04-08 16:16:12
Techdirt.com
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Another Coronavirus Side Effect: In-Home Surveillance By Remote Workers' Employers
Well, it took a pandemic to normalize domestic surveillance by [checks notes] employers. Not sure if this is the dystopia we needed or the one we de.
2020-04-08 13:11:40
Techdirt.com
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Maybe It's The Quarantine Talking, But NASCAR's Esports Takeover Is Hilarious Fun
As we all live through this bad but real life knockoff of a season of The Walking Dead, we've talked about how professional sports leagues are deali.
2020-04-08 04:40:34
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Babbel Language Learning
Learn Spanish, French, Italian, German, and many more languages with Babbel, the top-grossing, language-learning app in the world. Developed by over.
2020-04-07 20:00:28
Techdirt.com
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DC Court Says Terms Of Service Violations Can't Trigger Federal CFAA Prosecutions
In a win for researchers and the ACLU, a federal court has ruled that violating a site's terms of service is not a criminal violation of the CFAA.
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2020-04-07 20:00:28
Techdirt.com
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Donald Trump Fires Inspector General Who Brought Ukraine Phone Call Whistleblower Complaint To Congress
No one really needs to wait until Friday afternoon to bury bad news. Not these days when bad news is all we seem to have, occasionally mixed with ev.
2020-04-07 12:31:07
Techdirt.com
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Benjamin Netanyahu, Hater Of Fake News And Purveyor Of Fake News
As most of you will know, the term "fake news" has been so bastardized at this point so as to be more a moniker of quite literally the opposite of i.
2020-04-07 04:30:45
Techdirt.com
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That Coronavirus Image Is Public Domain, But That Won't Stop Getty From Trying To Sell You A $500 License To Use It
Late last week, we wrote a nice story about how the infamous image of the coronavirus that is causing COVID-19 is in the public domain, since it's a.
2020-04-06 23:01:17
Techdirt.com
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Congress Let Spy Powers Expire Last Month, Which Is Having Almost No Effect On Current Spying
Thanks to the goddamn everything else going on in the world right now, we've now learned what happens when Congress lets surveillance authorities ex.
2020-04-06 21:00:33
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Laptop 9-in-1 Docking Station Stand
Enjoy your laptop's supposed portability and convenience with Ledetech's Laptop Docking Station Stand. Featuring 9 outputs, this dock holds your lap.
2020-04-06 20:00:51
Techdirt.com
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Predictive Text Patent Troll Tries To Shake Down Wikipedia
WordLogic is a patent troll. The company has been around for a while and holds a bunch of patents (such as US Patent 7,681,124) which it claims cove.
2020-04-06 20:00:51
Techdirt.com
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Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
This week, both of our winning comments on the insightful side come in response to the news that Jared Kushner's coronavirus task force has been usi.
2020-04-05 21:14:52
Techdirt.com
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This Week In Techdirt History: March 29th - April 4th
Five Years Ago
This week in 2015, in what was not an April Fool's joke, President Obama signed a silly cybersecurity executive order that amoun.
2020-04-04 21:02:44
Techdirt.com
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How The Public Domain Coronavirus 'Beauty Shot' You Now See Everywhere Came To Be
By now, you've probably seen this image of the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 a million times:
It's freaking everywhere. And it's i.
2020-04-04 04:43:01
Techdirt.com
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Those Ex-Theranos Patents Look Really Bad; Contest Opened To Find Prior Art To Get Them Invalidated
A few weeks back we wrote about how Fortress Investment Group -- a massive patent trolling operation funded by Softbank -- was using old Theranos pa.
2020-04-03 22:44:23
Techdirt.com
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TikTok Users In China Temporarily Banned For Speaking Their Own Cantonese Language Instead Of Using The Official Mandarin
Most people know about TikTok, from the company Bytedance, but not many know that it is the international version of the similar, but separate, Douy.
2020-04-03 21:23:00
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Boxne SSD Hosting Lite Plan
Boxne SSD Hosting is a great place to start for anyone creating a website that needs secure and affordable hosting with great customer service. With.
2020-04-03 19:49:23
Techdirt.com
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World's Worst Copyright Trolling Lawyer, Richard Liebowitz, Files Lawsuit Against Ellen Barkin For Posting Photo Of Herself
I'm still amazed that any photographer could think it's wise to hire notoriously bad copyright trolling lawyer Richard Liebowitz. Liebowitz, among m.
2020-04-03 19:49:23
Techdirt.com
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The T-Mobile Merger Closes, Highlighting Vast U.S. Media, Legal, And Policy Failures
T-Mobile and Sprint finally closed their controversial $26 billion wireless mega merger this week, opening the door to a new era in U.S. wireless wi.
2020-04-03 15:49:20
Techdirt.com
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EU Says That, No, Rental Car Companies Don't Need To Pay A License To Rent Cars With Radios That Might Play Music
Performance Rights Organizations (PROs), sometimes known as "Collection Societies," have a long history of demanding licensing for just about every .
2020-04-03 12:41:04
Techdirt.com
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Strange Times: During The COVID-19 Outbreak, Evictions Get A Pause...In Final Fantasy 14
As the world navigates the reality of the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, we've already noted several ways that the outbreak has changed our daily live.
2020-04-03 05:11:24
Techdirt.com
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Ex-FCC Staffer Says FCC Authority Given Up In Net Neutrality Repeal Sure Would Prove Handy In A Crisis
It's worth repeating for the folks in the back: the FCC's hugely unpopular, facts-optional and fraud-slathered repeal of net neutrality did a lot mo.
2020-04-02 22:40:57
Techdirt.com
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Senator Loeffler's COVID-Related Stock Trades Looking Even Worse, While Feds Start Investigating Senator Burr's
As we noted just a few weeks ago, two Senators -- Kelly Loeffler from Georgia and Richard Burr from North Carolina, both of whom were publicly tryin.
2020-04-02 21:10:58
Techdirt.com
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New Inspector General's Report Finds Even More Problems With The FBI's FISA Surveillance Applications
The FBI's inability (or unwillingness) to craft factual FISA court affidavits was exposed late last year by an investigation by the DOJ's Inspector .
2020-04-02 19:58:51
Techdirt.com
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Senator Blumenthal Is Super Mad That Zoom Isn't Actually Offering The End To End Encryption His Law Will Outlaw
Richard Blumenthal has been attacking internet services he doesn't understand since before he was even a US Senator. It has carried over into his jo.
2020-04-02 18:58:44
Techdirt.com
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Teleconferencing Company Zoom Pitching End-To-End Encryption That Really Isn't End-To-End
As Karl Bode wrote what feels like a decade ago on March 19, 2020, privacy and encryption will be more important than ever during this pandemic and .
2020-04-02 12:59:35
Techdirt.com
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Court Manages To Get NBA2K Tattoo Copyright, Trademark Case Exactly Right
Somehow, it's been nearly four years since a tattoo company, Solid Oak Sketches, decided to sue 2K Sports, the studio behind the renowned NBA 2K fra.
2020-04-02 05:12:35
Techdirt.com
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Security And Privacy In A Brave New Work From Home World
We have moved to a radically remote posture, leaving a lot of empty real-estate in corporate
offices and abandoning the final protections of the di.
2020-04-02 01:00:50
Techdirt.com
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Democrats Being Blocked From Advertising On Trump's Failed COVID-19 Response Due To Content Moderation Rules
Here we go again: content moderation at scale is impossible to do well -- and, as we've discussed, things are especially tricky when it comes to con.
2020-04-01 21:08:12
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: Integrity Training -- Online Workforce Courses
Integrity Training is an online provider of proven on-demand training for corporate, government, and education employees. The ultimate online learni.
2020-04-01 20:00:35
Techdirt.com
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Broadband Speeds Dip In Major Cities Due To Covid-19
Generally speaking, experts believe the U.S. internet should hold up pretty well under the significant new strain created by COVID-19. Italy and Chi.
2020-04-01 16:00:34
Techdirt.com
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Appeals Court Tells Baltimore PD To Start Coughing Up Information About Its Cell Site Simulators
The Baltimore Police Department was an enthusiastic early adopter of cell site simulator technology. In 2015, a Baltimore detective admitted the dep.
2020-04-01 12:55:19
Techdirt.com
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Florida Atlantic University Suddenly Decides Owl Tutoring's Name Is Trademark Infringement After Over A Decade
As some of you may be aware, Florida Atlantic University's sports teams and mascots are the Owls. As some of you may also be aware, the southeast is.
2020-04-01 05:00:00
Techdirt.com
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Tone Deaf: Using COVID-19 As A Prop To Celebrate The Death Of Net Neutrality
So we've noted a few times now how the FCC's decision to kill net neutrality did a hell of a lot more than just kill "net neutrality." It obliterate.
2020-03-31 23:29:38
Techdirt.com
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We Know The FBI Can't Count Phones. A New Report Shows It Can't Count Guns And Ammo Either.
We know the FBI can't accurately track how many encrypted devices it has in its possession. Two consecutive directors have pushed a "going dark" nar.
2020-03-31 21:30:30
Techdirt.com
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Publishers And Authors Misguided Freakout Over Internet Archive's Decision To Enable More Digital Book Checkouts During A Pandemic
It's been said many times over that if libraries did not currently exist, there's no way that publishers would allow them to come into existence tod.
2020-03-31 20:30:29
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Premium A to Z Microsoft Excel Bundle
The Premium A to Z Microsoft Excel Bundle has 10 courses to help you discover the power of Excel. You'll start off learning the basics like building.
2020-03-31 20:00:10
Techdirt.com
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Well Hyped Satellite Broadband Provider OneWeb Files For Bankruptcy
For years, we've been promised repeatedly that new broadband technologies would soon arrive to disrupt the broken, cable broadband versus telco DSL .
2020-03-31 16:00:06
Techdirt.com
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FOIA'ed DOJ Report Points Out The Downsides Of Relying On 'Predictive Policing' To Fight Crime
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has obtained a DOJ report on predictive policing via a FOIA lawsuit. The document dates back to 201.
2020-03-31 12:41:54
Techdirt.com
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UK's National Health Service Plans To Use Big Data Analysis To Fight COVID-19 -- With The Help Of Palantir
It's clear that digital technology will play a key role in helping to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, whether as a way of disseminating information.
2020-03-31 04:42:49
Techdirt.com
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Permission Culture Gone Mad: Worries About Proper License For 'Balcony Singing' Lead Collection Society To Say It's Okay, You Can Sing
Yet another reminder that copyright is really, really broken. As you may have seen, there have been a few viral videos making the rounds of people l.
2020-03-30 22:46:54
Techdirt.com
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Voluntary Virus Tracking Apps Seek To Get A Grip On The Coronavirus Problem
Be the surveillance you don't necessarily want to see in the world. That's the plan detailed in this report by Thomas Brewster for Forbes. Dozens of.
2020-03-30 21:22:57
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The 2020 Full Stack Digital Marketing Certification Bundle
The 2020 Full Stack Digital Marketing Certification Bundle has 12 courses to help you master marketing on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Analytics, and .
2020-03-30 20:04:42
Techdirt.com
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WTF Hospital Administrators? Now Is NOT The Time To Silence Doctors & Nurses From Commenting On COVID-19 Shortages
What is it with people who should know better immediately resorting to censorship and gag orders in the face of important information sharing? With .
2020-03-30 20:04:42
Techdirt.com
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Jared Kushner's Coronavirus Task Force Is Using Private Email Accounts To Conduct Official Business
If you're a public official, your communications and documents are supposed to be accessible by the public. That's not me being an absolutist on ope.
2020-03-30 19:20:05
Techdirt.com
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Jared Kushner's Coronovirus Task Force Is Using Private Email Accounts To Conduct Official Business
If you're a public official, your communications and documents are supposed to be accessible by the public. That's not me being an absolutist on ope.
2020-03-30 15:33:36
Techdirt.com
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This Week In Techdirt History: March 22nd - 28th
Five Years Ago
This week in 2015, while AT&T was changing its story on Title II classification when it protected AT&T, the first lega.
2020-03-28 20:09:47
Techdirt.com
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Judge Allows PEN America's Lawsuit Against Donald Trump Over Retaliation Against The Media To Proceed
We've written a few times about the White House's unconstitutional retaliation against journalists it did not like, such as Jim Acosta and Brian Kar.
2020-03-28 03:52:58
Techdirt.com
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Anti-Vaxxer Sues Facebook, In The Middle Of A Pandemic, For 'In Excess' Of $5 Billion For Shutting Down His Account
When I write about this new lawsuit, filed on behalf of "retired MMA fighter" Nick Catone, against Facebook for removing his account over his anti-v.
2020-03-27 22:23:55
Techdirt.com
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Instead of COVID-19 Hazard Pay, Spectrum Is Giving Its Repair Techs $25 Gift Cards To Closed Restaurants
Despite its obvious reputational problems, Comcast has actually been stepping up for its workers during the COVID-19 crisis, paying its employees ha.
2020-03-27 20:15:53
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Microsoft SQL Server & T-SQL Course For Beginners
Knowing SQL is a highly profitable skill. This stable technology has been around for 20 years and used by developers, marketers, sales teams, produc.
2020-03-27 18:52:20
Techdirt.com
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Someone Convinced Google To Delist Our Entire Right To Be Forgotten Tag In The EU For Searches On Their Name
We received notification this week that Google has delisted our entire right to be forgotten tag page, based on (of course) a right to be forgotten .
2020-03-27 17:22:45
Techdirt.com
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Verizon Is The Only US Wireless Carrier Charging Extra For 5G
By now we've established that while fifth-generation (5G) wireless will result in faster, more resilient networks, the technology has been over-hype.
2020-03-27 14:41:43
Techdirt.com
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How Much Data Does Clearview Gather On People? The Answer (Sadly) Will Not Surprise You.
Clearview's facial recognition app links to a database of 4 billion pictures. And those photos are linked to all the data that got scraped up with t.
2020-03-27 11:40:12
Techdirt.com
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During The Outbreak: All Sports Are eSports Now
The COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the world, and in many cases shutting it down, has become so pervasive so as to even dominate the headlines here at T.
2020-03-27 03:50:16
Techdirt.com
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Can ProctorU Be Trusted With Students' Personal Data?
One of the hard lessons that I have learned over my years of practice is that, although some lawyers believe that they can increase the in terrorem .
2020-03-26 22:00:03
Techdirt.com
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RIAA Realizes It Sued Charter Over A Bunch Of Songs It Doesn't Hold The Copyrights For
It's been a year since the RIAA sued Charter Communications, using the same strategy it had used against smaller ISPs Cox and Grande Communications .
2020-03-26 19:13:53
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Complete 2020 Cloud Training Bundle
As businesses adapt to digital transformation, cloud computing has been a growing, in-demand process. It cuts on the need for huge racks of servers,.
2020-03-26 18:42:54
Techdirt.com
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President Trump Is So Upset About This Ad Showing His Failed Handling Of COVID-19 That He's Demanding It Be Taken Down
Has no one explained to Donald Trump how the Streisand Effect works yet? His campaign has apparently been sending laughably ridiculous threat letter.
2020-03-26 18:13:14
Techdirt.com
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AT&T, Verizon Will Waive Wireless Overage Fees During Pandemic. But You'll Have To Ask.
Earlier this month, the biggest U.S. broadband providers announced they'd be dropping usage caps and overage fees during the pandemic in order to pr.
2020-03-26 14:51:29
Techdirt.com
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EU Parliament Told Predictive Policing Software Relies On Dirty Data Generated By Corrupt Cops
Predictive policing efforts continue to expand around the world. Fortunately, so has the criticism. The data witchcraft that expects a bunch of crap.
2020-03-26 12:00:58
Techdirt.com
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Washington State Legislators Pass Bill Blocking Use Of Facial Recognition Tech Without A Warrant
We all like a good facial recognition ban, and the state of Washington is the latest to (sort of) tee one up.
The Washington state legislatur.
2020-03-25 21:43:20
Techdirt.com
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Apple Helps China Censor Citizens By Pulling The Plug On A Keyboard App That Encrypted Text Messages
China keeps being China, despite all the problems it has at home. The coronavirus traces back to Wuhan, China, and it has become clear the Chinese g.
2020-03-25 19:14:50
Techdirt.com
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Daily Deal: The Absolute Python Programming Bundle
Python is a popular, general-purpose programming language primarily used in web and app development, but it's also making huge strides in the realms.
2020-03-25 18:44:08
Techdirt.com
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Libraries Want To Become Broadband Havens During The Pandemic, But Want More Help From The FCC
For many of the estimated 44 million Americans who lack access to any kind of broadband at home, the nation's libraries are their only way to get on.
2020-03-25 14:33:30
Techdirt.com
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VPN Review Site Creates Live Digital Rights Tracker To Compile Coronavirus-Related Surveillance Efforts
Since lots and lots of (mostly government) people seem to agree these particularly desperate times call for particularly privacy-invading desperate .
2020-03-25 11:30:07
Techdirt.com
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Double Blow To The EU's Long-Delayed Unified Patent Court, But Supporters Unlikely To Give Up
Remember the EU's unitary patent plan? No surprise if you don't -- attempts to create a unitary patent system across the region have been dragging o.
2020-03-25 04:17:07
Techdirt.com
