Alien Rebel 's BestNetTech Comments

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  • On the post: DailyDirt: Technology For Lawyers

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 18 Feb, 2015 @ 09:00pm

    Disappointed

    "Technology for Lawyers"

    I was hoping the post would be about some new chemical spray-away or hypersonic repellant to get rid of lawyers. Crap.

  • On the post: Hey, Just A Silly Thought: Maybe It's Time We Stop Letting Comcast And AT&T Write State Telecom Law?

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 27 Jan, 2015 @ 02:34pm

    Re: Re:

    Given the redefinition of torture, I think it would be appropriate to consider tar and feathering as merely "enhanced constituent feedback."

  • On the post: Paris, France To Sue Fox News For Being Fox News

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 20 Jan, 2015 @ 04:15pm

    Re: Re: Oh, Please

    Lawsuits over speech are a bad idea. I'm hopeful though, that if FOX continues on its current trajectory they'll ultimately be forced to hand over their choice seating at press events to Comedy Central. Sorry, Heraldo, real reporters coming through, . .

    Off on a tangent, my ultimate fantasy would be to witness John Oliver get SCOTUS press credentials.
    --

  • On the post: Commerce Department Study Reveals There's Almost No Competition If You Want Real Broadband

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 08 Jan, 2015 @ 10:54am

    Re: Re: Getting prices

    Ridiculous. Criminalize fraud? We'd need a war on fraud. We'd have to release millions arrested for marijuana to have enough prison space.

  • On the post: All Of These Works Should Be In The Public Domain, But Aren't

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2015 @ 12:12pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    I hope this doesn't break the internet, but I'm going to give credit where credit is due; antidirt, you're a trooper. Why, I have no idea, and I won't go there; that's between you and your professional psychiatric caregiver.

    I'm going to simply provide an observation which I won't spend further time arguing about; take it FWIW. In all your attempts at rebuttals, and efforts to support your points, you have cited past law and legal opinions numerous times. Law is of course built (some might say arguably) on great ideas, and the thinking of others. I'd like to point out that great works of intellect are not exclusive to the legal profession. Obviously, this leads us right back to the original post this train wreck of a dialog should have been about- what gets lost when the thinking of others is sequestered.

    If you have any kind of an imagination, you can understand that just as with law, great works in all the intellectual and creative disciplines of mankind have immeasurable value when others can access them, modify them, build upon them. No need for me to go further; you either get it or you don't. See you around.

  • On the post: Supreme Court To Dip Its Toes Cautiously Into The Electronic Age With Free Electronic Filing System

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 06 Jan, 2015 @ 02:41am

    Re: Re: Awesome

    Punch cards???? (Uh Oh, Geezer alert- the kiddies around here probably have no clue what the ##@@! they are.)

  • On the post: All Of These Works Should Be In The Public Domain, But Aren't

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 06 Jan, 2015 @ 02:27am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    'A' for effort, One Guy. Too bad there isn't an honest dialog taking place that would make your effort worthwhile.

    As antidirt wrote, "It seems everyone here can form an opinion."

    I'd like to point out that it seems everyone but him. If this were an honest discussion, he might eventually get around to providing specifics and a clear rationale to support his unstated, though implied, opinion that current copyright term length is just peachy (and perhaps should last forever?)

    The original post was about illustrating the COST of extended copyright terms by listing works that would have entered the public domain but for term extensions. Quantifying that cost comes down to subjective measurement, a matter of imagining what would be the result of people being able to share the wit, wisdom, and science contained in the works, rather than having them lay dormant. Funny that; not something antidirt cared to tackle. See, if this were an honest dialog, antidirt would have done that, given us his opinion on what those costs are, and then what benefit to society he sees in a copyright term of life + time until our sun runs out of hydrogen; finally, he'd elaborate on why he feels the benefits outweigh the costs.

    But nope, Rule #1 of engaging in a BS adversarial dialog is, don't volunteer anything that's not absolutely necessary. So fat chance you'll squeeze anything out of him that can be held up for examination.

    Obviously there's no reasonable dialog happening here, there's only just a troll picking at whatever loose threads he can in other's statements, and I don't see any purpose in point-by-point exchanges. Go enjoy a cold one, or whatever. antidirt's lawyerly response of "life + 70 is a limited time" is too asinine for words. We're all well aware who's the jerk sitting in his own steaming pile.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Life Across The Universe

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2015 @ 10:13pm

    Re: Re: Go Big.

    Carbon units are not true life forms.

  • On the post: John Steele Looking To Join Former Prenda Lawyer Paul Hansmeier In ADA Lawsuit Shakedown Business

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2015 @ 08:34pm

    Re: Re:

    Hmmm, . . how big should their pineapples be?

  • On the post: Supreme Court To Dip Its Toes Cautiously Into The Electronic Age With Free Electronic Filing System

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2015 @ 09:46pm

    Awesome

    What size floppies for the electronic submissions?

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Life Across The Universe

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2015 @ 05:20pm

    Go Big.

    I'd bet all my Quatloos that we'd do better by looking at more sterile environments where next-gen life would probably want to be. Suppose for a minute you could do a 100% redesign of all your bodily systems, live comfortably in a far wider range of environments than your current meat suits; would you really want a high oxygen atmosphere that corrodes your gizmos, the risk of having some biologic screw with your circuits, or have any desire to physically depend on the drippy, oozy life systems of a planet such as Earth? Probably not. FYI- you Earthlings would be shocked to know just how many shots are needed to come here.

  • On the post: How Copyright Makes Culture Disappear

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 01 Jan, 2015 @ 12:47am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Follow the money

    I agree, art is not created in a vacuum; in fact, I've made that exact same argument to lots of would-be artists I've encountered in my twenty-plus years as a professional illustrator. I'd even go so far as to agree that life experience is probably the single most essential ingredient to creating anything worthwhile.

    But there's this multiplier of talent, called "craft." Few masterpieces ever spring forth from a virgin birth without lots of sweat, failure, and more sweat in the beginning. On top of that, there are some art forms in which it's absolutely critical for an artist to have a deep reservoir of experience as a craftsman, someone who can combine technical know-how with a trained eye or ear, to have any hope of success. This more often than not is acquired from being in the trenches a while; whether behind a stage, in an orchestra, or in a studio. As you've noted, there are exceptions; in particular, in disciplines where one's craftsmanship can be honed outside of an industry setting.

    I can't begin to tell you how many young artists I've encountered who have natural talent, but lack the skills to be more than just another amateur who's waiting tables. That's a different kind of vacuum- an ignorance of the tools and techniques that are needed for success, and another place where art goes to die.

  • On the post: How Copyright Makes Culture Disappear

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 31 Dec, 2014 @ 04:39pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Follow the money

    "Artists are incentivized to create works because it's in their nature to do so."


    Not necessarily untrue. However, modern civilization depends on people being physically/financially able to specialize in what they're good at. We get better art, literature, science, music, and everything else when people are able to do that.

    Too bad copyright doesn't serve this purpose quite so much anymore (if it ever did), now that it's been re-tasked as a tool for corporations seeking profits from ownership and rent, rather than creation.
    --

  • On the post: Latest Trade Agreements Are About The Opposite Of Free Trade: Protectionism For Big Business

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 31 Dec, 2014 @ 11:12am

    Re:

    Let's be really, really accurate for once. The entities crying "piracy!" have zero incentive to refrain from going way over the line and turning what they're selling as benevolent "protection" into commercial weaponry. Wholesale removal of democratic constraints, the ability to suppress competition without that bothersome due-process nonsense, maybe even achieving that holy grail of modern capitalism, getting money for nothing, via Investor State Dispute Resolution? It's all good to them, baby.

  • On the post: Comcast Lobbyists Give Lawmakers Golden Tickets: Secret Phone Numbers To Reach Good Customer Service

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 23 Dec, 2014 @ 11:44am

    1st Class Peanuts in Gold Foil Taste Like, . .

    I'm thinking the COMCAST VIP cards are no more significant than any other bit of gold-foiled ephemera handed out to the pampered ones. What class of human beings responds more to meaningless trinkets and shiny baubles than the political class?

    Of greater importance IMO is an omission in the Hill's article on COMCAST's lobbying- one of my favorite D.C. critters was not mentioned, long-time COMCAST lobbyist former Sen. Don Nickles and his firm, the Nickles Group LLC. While the Nickles Group is only middle of the pack in terms of COMCAST's lobbying dollars (OpenSecrets.org) The New York Times mentions that Sen. Nickles is one of the hotshots on Comcast's Time Warner merger strategy team (NYT- Comcast’s Web of Lobbying and Philanthropy) And just this past week, one of Don Nickles' right-hand lobbyists, and dedicated servant of COMCAST, Hazen Marshall, was named Mitch McConnell's policy director. (POLITICO- GOP goes on K Street hiring spree).

    May you continue to enjoy your fine COMCAST customer service in the coming new year, with help from the U.S. Senate leadership.
    --

  • On the post: Google Files Legal Challenge To Attorney General Jim Hood's Subpoenas

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 19 Dec, 2014 @ 02:47pm

    Re: Re:

    If you stop to think about it, a BJ in a stall indicates a politician who's motivated by something other than money, has impulse control issues, and maybe can be turned or compromised by a competitor on the cheap.

    The moneyed interests naturally would like their political purchases to be predictable; simple creatures that respond to money only.

  • On the post: Google Files Legal Challenge To Attorney General Jim Hood's Subpoenas

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 19 Dec, 2014 @ 12:52pm

    Re: Re:

    Nice of you to bring up paradox and wormholes. Beware the slimy dirt-eating Mofos.

  • On the post: Google Files Legal Challenge To Attorney General Jim Hood's Subpoenas

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 19 Dec, 2014 @ 12:28pm

    Re:

    You must be new to this planet. Seriously, if you ever find an answer to that question, please share it; we're all dying to know.

  • On the post: The MPAA's Secret Plan To Reinterpret The DMCA Into A Vast Censorship Machine That Breaks The Core Workings Of The Internet

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 19 Dec, 2014 @ 11:53am

    Re:

    And unfortunately the button to make things go boom has a banana on it. Plain old profit at others' expense.
    -

  • On the post: Leaked Emails Reveal MPAA Plans To Pay Elected Officials To Attack Google

    Alien Rebel ( profile ), 15 Dec, 2014 @ 02:49pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    "The individual who yawned provided a more nuanced comment that in large measure highlights just how much factual information is missing. Of course there may be undisclosed facts that if known could implicate illegal conduct. Nobody is arguing otherwise. What we are saying is that those like you who appear to have already made up their minds are doing so with an insufficient data set in hand."

    That there's some quality cut + paste for a mobster's defense attorney. Jurors, pay no attention to the blood stains in the MPAA's trunk, you just don't have all the facts.
    --

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