Ever since the fall of 2018, the DHS has been threatening the American public with increased surveillance on top of the insults and intrusions TSA officers physically perform at security checkpoints. The first inklings of this rollout came in the form of a Privacy Impact Assessment released by the DHS in September 2018. The assessment […]
We just got done noting how there’s not much the federal government can do about right wing propaganda outlets like Fox News, given their protections under the First Amendment and the general limitations (both legally and courageously) at regulators like the FCC. But there is one thing that’s likely to cause some serious trouble for […]
The Chicago Police Department is extremely problematic, even by the extremely lax standards of US law enforcement. It has been home to a domestic black-site operation. It has been hit with reform mandates from federal courts. It has shown no interest in rooting out the worst of its officers. And it has engaged in a […]
We’ve noted for decades how US broadband caps are little more than a predatory cash grab. The usage limits and overage fees have zero real technical function and don’t manage congestion. Instead they’re little more than a glorified price hike; a way for regional telecom monopolies to nickel-and-dime captive customers, charging them more money for […]
Well, one terrible bill won’t be a problem this year, though will come back next. The CJPA (California Journalism Protection Act) from Assemblymember Buffy Wick, won’t move forward this year. Technically it’s “become a two-year bill” which basically means they can (and will) pick it back up again next year without having to revisit the […]
And away we go. The ongoing saga that is Microsoft’s attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard has been going on for months now, with a flurry of news and activity occurring over the past couple of those months as the deal sits before three major regulatory bodies in the EU, the UK, and here in America. […]
It will surprise nobody to learn that when politicians trumpet the First Amendment, they are generally referring only to expression that they agree with. But occasionally, they demonstrate their hypocrisy in a fashion so outrageously transparent that it shocks even the most cynical and jaded First Amendment practitioners. Last week, we were treated to just […]
As the name suggests, classification algorithms are what allow computers to well… classify new observations, like how your inbox decides which incoming emails are spam or how Siri recognizes your voice. The Essential MATLAB & Simulink Training Course will show you how to implement classification algorithms using MATLAB, one of the most powerful tools inside […]
If there’s one thing nearly everyone on Capitol Hill can agree on, it’s that the federal government just isn’t interfering enough with social media services. The Democrats think social media services should be regulated because they’re allowing too much hate and misinformation to spread. The Republicans think social media services should be regulated because not […]
I’ve spent the better part of two decades writing about how telecom monopolization (and the corruption that protects it) results in expensive, spotty, sluggish, broadband and historically terrible customer service. The cause of our substandard broadband isn’t much of a mystery, but because of these companies’ political influence, state and federal policymakers often lack the […]
Finally! We’ve been covering famed burger chain In-N-Out’s longstanding bullshit tactic for retaining trademark rights all over the world by standing up popup locations briefly once every couple of years just to satisfy the requirements to use the mark in commerce. What is far too common in the coverage about lawsuits or threats of suits […]
Let’s get this out of the way right up front: NSO Group — as ethically horrendous as it is — offers at least one unbeatable product. Its Pegasus malware is a zero-click exploit capable of fully compromising targets’ phones. This means the company is worth something, even if it’s not the sort of company most […]
If you’re a Techdirt reader, you’re surely familiar with Cory Doctorow: we’ve written about him often, he’s appeared on the podcast several times and, of course, he’s a prolific science fiction author whose books brilliantly engage with many of the subjects we cover. Next week, if all goes according to plan, Cory will be joining […]
Elon Musk’s Twitter is apparently really hard up for cash. In addition to not paying rent or other important bills, it is now trying to claw back bills that were paid just prior to Elon getting the keys to Twitter. As you may have heard, last week, Twitter sued Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, well […]
The worst people can make the best case law. That’s the way it works here in the United States, where the court system occasionally works like it should and the old “disagree with what you say but defend your right to say it” axiom is upheld by judges who frequently have to deal with speech […]
The Complete AWS Cloud Engineer, Developer & Architect Course Bundle has 10 courses designed to help you master AWS. You’ll learn about the basic use case for cloud computing and specifically for selecting AWS services. Courses will teach you how to become a Cloud Engineer, Cloud Architect, Cloud Developer, and a SysOps Admin. You’ll also […]
You may have seen some headlines recently about some authors filing lawsuits against OpenAI. The lawsuits (plural, though I’m confused why it’s separate attempts at filing a class action lawsuit, rather than a single one) began last week, when authors Paul Tremblay and Mona Awad sued OpenAI and various subsidiaries, claiming copyright infringement in how […]
When it comes to Fox News’ democracy-soiling propaganda, there’s not a whole lot the federal government has been able to do. The First Amendment generally protects the network’s ability to spew race-baiting conspiratorial bile, and the nation’s top media regulator, the FCC, generally either lacks the authority or backbone to stop the “news” channel from […]
Although overall the EU Copyright Directive is bad news for the digital world because of things like its need for the use of automated upload filters, it does contain a few glimmers of good sense. For example, it rectifies a failing of the previous EU legislation in this area, the 2001 Infosec Directive. The 2001 law allowed Member States […]
A few months ago, when the EU designated 17 companies as “VLOPs” — Very Large Online Providers — subject to the most stringent regulations, one name that I heard lots of folks in the US be confused about was Zalando, which is a large EU-focused online retailer. It was also one of only two companies […]
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