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School Monitoring Software Sacrifices Student Privacy For Unproven Promises Of Safety

2 months 1 week ago
Imagine your search terms, key-strokes, private chats and photographs are being monitored every time they are sent. Millions of students across the country don’t have to imagine this deep surveillance of their most private communications: it’s a reality that comes with their school districts’ decision to install AI-powered monitoring software such as Gaggle and GoGuardian on students’ school-issued machines […]
Mike Masnick

‘Patriot Reporter’ Latest Conspiracy Theorist To Discover It’s Not Libel If It’s The Truth

2 months 1 week ago
It’s hardly surprising that someone who makes a living trafficking in things other than facts would have trouble recognizing facts when they’re applied to him. That’s the case here with Philip Godlewski — a self-proclaimed “patriot reporter” and QAnon conspiracy theorist. (h/t Volokh Conspiracy) According to claims made in court, Godlewski is “one of the […]
Tim Cushing

Daily Deal: 6-in-1 Wireless Charger Stand with Time Clock And Alarm

2 months 1 week ago
Charge your device or illuminate your desk with this innovative 6-in-1 Wireless Charger. It’s easy to use with its touch buttons and Qi wireless charging for Qi-enabled devices. Beautifully made with a modern look, it can quickly charge your device and is touch-sensitive allowing you to show the digital clock. This charger comes with an […]
Gretchen Heckmann

Cable TV In Free Fall As Industry Loses Another 1.62 Million Viewers

2 months 1 week ago
It seems like only yesterday that cable TV executives — and the analysts poised to prop up their narratives to boost stock valuations — were busy insisting that the “cord cutting” trend was a “fiction” that would abate any moment now. It was the kind of thinking that helped justify their inability to adapt to […]
Karl Bode

Warner Bros. Copyright Striking Reactions To The ‘Minecraft’ Movie Trailer

2 months 1 week ago
Of all the ways that content creators use copyright to strike down content, one of the most befuddling is when trailers are the subject of copyright strikes. There is occasionally some logic to these sorts of strikes. Trailers that are unfinished, for instance. But even when trailers leak early in a finished state, copyright holders […]
Dark Helmet

California Politicians Embarrass Themselves By Calling For ‘Warning Labels’ On Social Media

2 months 1 week ago
Can we add a warning label to the First Amendment that says “Actually reading this can cause extreme embarrassment to grandstanding politicians”? California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, has just lost two separate cases in the Ninth Circuit regarding social media laws he strongly supported, which the court said violated the First Amendment. You would think […]
Mike Masnick

Daily Deal: The 2024 MERN Full Stack Developer Bundle

2 months 1 week ago
Advance your programming skills and start building responsive apps with the 2024 MERN Full Stack Developer Bundle. The 10 courses cover HTML, Bootstrap, CSS, React, MongoDB, Express, NodeJS, 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 Deals helps […]
Gretchen Heckmann

Zuckerberg Vows To Stop Apologizing To Bad Faith Politicians, Right After Doing Just That

2 months 1 week ago
Two weeks ago, Mark Zuckerberg apologized for something he didn’t actually do to appease a bad faith actor demanding he take responsibility for something that didn’t happen. This week, he’s claiming that he’s done falsely apologizing to bad faith actors demanding accountability for things he’s not responsible for. Pardon me, but I think I’ll wait […]
Mike Masnick

Oversight Report Says More Than A Third Of Frisks Performed By NYPD Officers Were Unconstitutional

2 months 1 week ago
More than a decade ago, the NYPD was sued successfully over its stop-and-frisk program. A federal court found the program routinely violated rights and disproportionately targeted minorities. Judge Shira Sheindlin ordered a number of reforms to the program and it was placed under federal oversight. Since then, the NYPD hasn’t changed much about how it […]
Tim Cushing

Court Tosses Lawsuit From Woman Wrongly Jailed For 2 Weeks Because ‘Bivens’ Precedent Only Works For Webster Bivens

2 months 1 week ago
If you think qualified immunity is awarded far too frequently during far too many cases involving obvious rights violations, brace yourself for the harrowing insanity that is the wreckage that has been made of Supreme Court’s Bivens decision. That case involved rights violations by federal officers against Webster Bivens. The Supreme Court found in favor […]
Tim Cushing

Daily Deal: Babbel Language Learning (All Languages)

2 months 1 week ago
You probably already know the benefits of learning a language, so let’s focus on the app. Right off the bat, let’s be clear about one thing: When we say “app” we don’t mean that you’re limited to using Babbel on your phone. You can use Babbel on desktop, too, and your progress is synchronized across […]
Gretchen Heckmann

Utah’s ‘Protect The Kids Online!’ Law Rejected By Court

2 months 1 week ago
Over the last few years, politicians in Utah have been itching to pass terrible internet legislation. Some of you may forget that in the earlier part of the century, Utah became somewhat famous for passing absolutely terrible internet laws that the courts then had to clean up. In the last few years, it’s felt like […]
Mike Masnick