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Pokémon Company Uses Fan Music In Trailer Without Crediting The Fan

1 year 3 months ago
If you go take a look at all the different posts we’ve done on the topic of Pokémon, you will be left with one undeniable conclusion: the people behind Pokémon content take IP rights very seriously. This has particularly been true when it comes to some of the franchise’s most dedicated fans trying to express […]
Dark Helmet

Techdirt Podcast Episode 361: The YouTube Effect, With Alex Winter

1 year 3 months ago
As you may recall, we weren’t fans of The Social Dilemma, the documentary manipulated people with misinformation in the course of complaining about that exact practice. But now there’s a much better and more interesting documentary in the space, and one that’s worth your time: The YouTube Effect by Alex Winter. It takes a deep […]
Leigh Beadon

ABA Finally Speaks Up About The Problem Of Judge Shopping

1 year 3 months ago
We’ve been writing about the problem of “judge shopping” for years in a variety of contexts. While there used to be concerns about “forum shopping,” in which plaintiffs would seek out specific courts that were deemed more favorable (such as the Eastern District of Texas for patent troll cases), it got more ridiculous in recent […]
Mike Masnick

Daily Deal: Microsoft Office Pro 2021 for Windows + A Free Microsoft Training Bundle

1 year 3 months ago
Microsoft Office 2021 Professional is the perfect choice for any professional who needs to handle data and documents. It comes with many new features that will make you more productive in every stage of development, whether it’s processing paperwork or creating presentations from scratch – whatever your needs are. The free Microsoft Training Bundle is […]
Gretchen Heckmann

Dish, EchoStar Confirm Plans For Completely Pointless Merger

1 year 3 months ago
We just got done noting how Dish Network’s long-hyped 5G wireless network is likely doomed. While they’re technically building a “wireless network,” the network’s coverage, phone selection, and overall quality has proven laughable so far, and there have been growing worries that Dish is running out of cash as it tries to meet regulatory deadlines for 5G deployment. Hoping […]
Karl Bode

Correction: Our National Taco Tuesday Nightmare Is Over, Except In New Jersey

1 year 3 months ago
It appears I slightly exaggerated the state of the Taco Tuesday trademark saga in my last post. After decades of ridiculous bullying coming from Taco John’s concerning the trademark it somehow was granted on “Taco Tuesday” — a term that is generic on its face, became more generic over time, and is also at least […]
Dark Helmet

The Fear Of AI Just Killed A Very Useful Tool

1 year 3 months ago
I do understand why so many people, especially creative folks, are worried about AI and how it’s used. The future is quite unknown, and things are changing very rapidly, at a pace that can feel out of control. However, when concern and worry about new technologies and how they may impact things morphs into mob-inspiring […]
Mike Masnick

My Distaste For Your Solution Does Not Mean Disregard For The Problem

1 year 3 months ago
This keeps coming up in different contexts, so I thought I might write a short (ha, as if I can write short things!) blog post that I can point to on various occasions. I spend a lot of time here on Techdirt highlighting why your favorite solution to (*waves hands*) some big societal problem won’t […]
Mike Masnick

Daily Deal: The Award-Winning Luminar Neo Bundle

1 year 3 months ago
Luminar Neo is easy-to-use photo editing software that empowers photography lovers to express the beauty they imagined using innovative AI-driven tools. Luminar Neo was built from the ground up to be different from previous Luminar editors. It keeps your favorite LuminarAI tools and expands your arsenal with more state-of-the-art technologies and important changes at its […]
Gretchen Heckmann

Witcher Producer: Show’s Shit Viewership Is Because Of Dumb Americans And Social Media

1 year 3 months ago
There’s nothing particularly novel when it comes to showrunners of media properties blaming all these damned kids and their internet for why their productions aren’t as successful as they wanted. Everything from broadway productions to viewership of the damned Olympics have had young people and social media blamed for declining or terrible viewership/attendance numbers. In […]
Dark Helmet

ACLU Says NYC’s Half-Baked WiFi Kiosks Still A Privacy Mess

1 year 3 months ago
In 2014, NYC officials decided to replace the city’s dated pay phones with “information kiosks” providing free public Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging, and a tablet for access to city services, maps and directions. The kiosks were to be funded by “context-aware” ads based on a variety of data collected from kiosk users and NYC […]
Karl Bode

Court Should Block Registration Of ‘Trump Too Small’ Trademark Not Because It’s Someone’s Name, But Because No One Should Control The Phrase

1 year 3 months ago
There’s an interesting thing that happens all too often in trademark cases, whereby people seem to flip the underlying argument. We see it in cases where someone opposes the registration of a certain trademark, and the party seeking the trademark complains that the government is trying to “censor” them or limit their speech, when more […]
Mike Masnick

Oversight Agency Says DHS Needs To Stop Screwing Around And Accurately Track Use Of Force By Officers

1 year 3 months ago
There are no incentives in place to encourage accurate reporting of force deployment by law enforcement agencies. Tracking use of force means agencies are basically generating evidence for civil rights lawsuits. That’s why force reporting is, at best, inconsistent. At its worst, it’s simply dishonest. The lack of solid deterrents means agencies simply won’t generate […]
Tim Cushing