Back in July, the Biden FCC voted to make unlocking your phone easier. As a result, the agency is now crafting new rules that would require that wireless carriers unlock customers’ mobile phones within 60days of activation, even if you’re still under contract. Wireless giant T-Mobile, which used to have a consumer-friendly reputation until its […]
As they say, the wheels of justice grind slowly. The presumed upside is that they grind finely, which means every periodic iteration should produce better outcomes. And maybe that’s true in some cases. (Cases handled in the Fifth Circuit, not so much.) This one’s in the Fifth Circuit but at least hasn’t suffered the possible […]
A few years ago agricultural equipment giant John Deere found itself on the receiving end of an antitrust lawsuit for its efforts to monopolize tractor repair. The lawsuits noted that the company consistently purchased competing repair centers in order to consolidate the sector and force customers into using the company’s own repair facilities, driving up costs and […]
There are examples of the Streisand Effect… and then there are examples of the Streisand Effect. And, frankly, what Intuit just decided to do to itself must surely be one of the most explosive and idiotic examples of the Streisand Effect I’ve ever come across. Readers here will be familiar with our posts about Intuit. […]
Let’s be honest, Christopher Rufo is the ratfucking king. While I don’t agree with him about anything, when it comes to dirty tricks, nobody does it half as good as him, he’s the best. Whenever Rufo releases a new report, the “woke” tremble, and pray he’s targeting someone else. Rufo’s current crusade is focused on […]
The Fifth Circuit Appeals Court continues to hand down dumb decisions rewarding law enforcement for rights violations. And the Supreme Court — yes, this Supreme Court — keeps sending those decisions back for a do-over. In December 2017, Laredo PD officers arrested local independent journalist, Priscilla Villarreal, for the alleged crime of “misusing official information.” […]
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Often when internet companies change their terms of service, there will be a short freakout from people overreacting and not really understanding the language of what’s in there. We see these stories every so often, frequently around things like licensing terms (which sites are effectively required to have to get permission to host user-generated content). […]
For much of the last decade, cable giants like Comcast (Xfinity) and Charter (Spectrum) have been protected from TV “cord cutting” by one simple fact: they enjoyed a monopoly over broadband access across vast swaths of the U.S. That monopoly means that if a customer ditched traditional TV, Comcast or Charter could recoup any losses […]
The Supreme Court’s Carpenter decision created a warrant requirement for obtaining location data from service providers. It was a limited ruling, albeit one that has had far-ranging implications. Thanks to this ruling, law enforcement agencies have started buying location data from third-party brokers, rather than suffer the apparent indignity of having to ask a judge […]
I’ve talked about Shawn Layden before. And in admiring terms, too. In the wake of the much of the industry consolidation we saw in the video game space last year, his comments about both what that would mean for creativity within gaming, the creation of entirely new titles, and even moreso what he said about […]
Fortunately, not everything the Supreme Court does these days is absolutely horrible. In this case (handled by the Institute for Justice) a Missouri man can resume his lawsuit against the officer who arrested him for… well, for reasons the cop ginned up well after the arrest had already happened. Mason Murphy was minding his own […]
Remember a few weeks ago when Elon Musk misleadingly claimed that George Soros was secretly “buying a propaganda machine to influence how you think”? Can you imagine the kind of shitstorm that would be playing out on ExTwitter and Fox News if George Soros were out there offering $1 million per day to people to […]
What an absolute shocker. What a completely unexpected turn of events. Oh how will we, as Americans, process this latest in a never-ending string of abuses of trust by law enforcement. What a time to be alive. Etc. Cops are always trying to hide the tech they use from criminal defendants, even when plenty of […]
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In a stunning display of technological and regulatory ineptitude, Italy’s ‘Piracy Shield’ law has managed to block access to Google Drive, apparently confusing the popular cloud storage service with a hotbed of illegal activity. Bravo, Italy, bravo. Earlier this year, we wrote about Italy’s new “Piracy Shield” nonsense, in which the country’s telecom regulator, AGCOM, […]
As we recently noted, the FCC has announced that’s finally “taking a look at” broadband usage caps. We’ve noted for decades how such limits are completely artificial, technically unnecessary constructs that exist specifically so your local telecom monopoly can rip you off. They don’t “manage congestion,” they exist exclusively to price gouge captive broadband customers […]
This week, both our winners on the insightful side come in response to our post about the judge who smacked down Florida’s attempt to censor abortion initiative ads. In first place, it’s an anonymous comment about our description of the legislature being “confused” about the first amendment: Make no mistake: They know exactly how it […]
Five Years Ago This week in 2019, states were rushing to protect net neutrality followed by the court ruling that shot down the FCC’s attempt to prevent them. Marc Benioff was being extremely hypocritical about Section 230, the guy who tried to extort YouTubers with bogus DMCA takedowns agreed to a settlement, and a guest […]
I have to admit, the volume of trademark dispute stories in the brewing industry I’ve done over the course of these many years here at Techdirt have surprisingly slowed down the last few years. I’m not sure if this is a function of the slowdown in industry growth in the craft brewing industry, market consolidation […]
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