Florida legislators — urged on by failed presidential candidate and “governor for life” hopeful Ron DeSantis — have passed plenty of unconstitutional laws in hopes of marginalizing or silencing anyone who isn’t straight, white, or voting straight-ticket Republican. Much like it’s true anyone can break any law they like until they get caught, legislators can […]
One frustrating thing in following everything that has happened in the case that started out as Missouri v. Biden and is now Murthy v. Missouri at the Supreme Court, is that the case is full of lies. The whole case is kind of a mess for a variety of reasons. This includes the original plaintiffs […]
The Complete 2024 CompTIA Certification Training Super Bundle by IDUNOVA has 15 courses to help you prepare for various CompTIA certification exams. Courses cover everything from the fundamentals to cloud essentials to cybersecurity. The bundle is on sale for $59.97. Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. A portion of all […]
I’m super excited to announce our brand new podcast, created in partnership with Ben Whitelaw, who runs the brilliant Everything in Moderation newsletter: Ctrl-Alt-Speech. It’s a weekly news podcast that Ben and I will be co-hosting, exploring what’s happening in the world of online speech. It will cover issues related to trust & safety, content […]
When last we checked in with Hewlett Packard (HP), the company had just been sued (for the second time) for crippling customer printers if owners attempt to use cheaper, third-party printer cartridges. It was just the latest in a long saga where printer manufacturers use DRM or dodgy software updates to wage all out war on consumer […]
Whatever your thoughts on policing in general in America, I would hope it would be largely uncontroversial to state that a huge percentage of Americans believe that police are generally over-militarized and at least slightly a little too trigger happy, especially when it comes to engaging minority communities. If you somehow think that there isn’t […]
As we’ve noted for a very long time, sometimes “dumb” tech is often the smarter option. In the rush to connect every conceivable technology and device to the internet (while seeing ever-improving revenues), “smart technology” companies routinely cut corners. And the first sacrifice usually made (behind customer service) tends to be consumer privacy and device […]
It might not be the smartest idea to have Walter Isaacson trailing you and taking notes on your everyday moves when one of those moves is trying to breach the contract the top execs of the social media company you just overpaid for on a whim. In his book on Musk, Isaacson talked about how […]
The gracious leeway of the Terry stop — as set down by the Supreme Court’s 1968 decision — gave a lot a law enforcement agencies a permission slip for suspicionless stops of pedestrians. Random people got braced, patted down, aggressively questioned, and otherwise hassled. Very few arrests followed. Very little contraband was discovered. But it […]
The Ultimate Adobe CC Training Bundle has 12 courses to help you get the most out of the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. Courses cover Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, After Effects, and more. It’s on sale for $40. Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. A portion of all sales from Techdirt […]
It’s no secret that I’m often skeptical of antitrust actions, many of which feel like bureaucrats doing a “general punishment” for disliking a successful company, rather than an actual response to abusive, anti-competitive behavior by a large company. However, that does not mean that there is no place for antitrust enforcement. It’s just that it […]
The FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), part of the 2021 infrastructure bill, currently provides 23+ million low-income Americans a $30 broadband discount every month. While it didn’t get much hype, that’s a big deal in a country where broadband affordability is a massive obstacle to adoption due to muted competition and high service prices. But […]
Usually when we discuss trademark disputes, we tend to highlight examples and stories where the dispute is initiated by a party where we really, really don’t think they have much of a leg to stand on. This story is different in that respect. In India, an eBike company called Yulu has sued a company called […]
Amazon’s home surveillance tech acquisition, Ring, wanted to be all things to everyone. But mostly, it wanted to be BFFs with law enforcement. Providing homeowners with an easy way to surveil their own doorsteps and driveways was enough for Ring for a little while. Then, following its acquisition by Amazon, it began to portray itself […]
Anyone who follows Techdirt knows we’re very interested in the progress of Bluesky, the decentralized social network that embraces our concept of protocols over platforms. Bluesky recently ended its invite-only beta and opened its doors to the public, so it seems like a great time for a check-in, and who better to check in with […]
A few weeks ago, Prof. James Grimmelmann and (former Techdirt) journalist Tim Lee wrote a piece for Ars Technica, stating why the NY Times might win its copyright lawsuit against OpenAI. It’s no secret that I’m skeptical of the underpinnings of the lawsuit and think the NY Times is being silly in filing it, but […]
Like highway patrol officers bitching about the fact they couldn’t talk a driver into a voluntary search, a British censorship board is complaining about the fact they can’t get US companies to comply with takedown requests they’re under no legal obligation to comply with. That’s the gist of this article, as reported by Laurie Clarke […]
The Apple Watch Wireless Charger Keychain is the perfect accessory for Apple Watch users on-the-go. With a built-in 950mAh lithium-ion battery, it can charge all series of Apple Watch. The technology allows it to be used as a base for a bedside table or table for convenient charging. Its portable, pocket-size design makes it easy […]
It appears that Meta is serious about no longer bribing news orgs to keep corrupt politicians from forcing them to engage in sketchy wealth transfer schemes to news orgs. While it caved in the past in Australia and paid off news orgs there, the company is informing news orgs that they won’t be renewing the […]
We’ve noted repeatedly how early attempts to integrate “AI” into journalism have proven to be a comical mess, resulting in no shortage of shoddy product, dangerous falsehoods, and plagiarism. It’s thanks in large part to the incompetent executives at many large media companies, who see AI primarily as a way to cut corners, assault unionized labor, and […]
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