Last week when Elon Musk banned the ElonJet account, then banned a bunch of reporters for talking about it, and then insisted that they had tweeted out his “assassination coordinates” leading to a crazed stalker to jump on a car with his child in it, some were… skeptical. I wasn’t sure it made sense to […]
From the Internet of very broken things to telecom networks, the state of U.S. privacy and user security is arguably pathetic. It’s 2022 and we still don’t have even a basic privacy law for the Internet era, in large part because over-collection of data is too profitable to a wide swath of industries, which, in turn, lobby Congress […]
This week, as you might expect, the comments are dominated by responses to Elon Musk’s ongoing craziness at Twitter. On the insightful side, our first place winner is an anonymous summation of the ElonJet situation: Twitter: It’s really, really bad if you share other people’s location information. If you do, we will ban your account. […]
Five Years Ago This week in 2017, the NY Attorney General found that two million fake comments flooded the FCC’s call for feedback on net neutrality, while two separate studies found that the fakes made up the majority of comments supportive of the repeal, all while Ajit Pai was making a tone-deaf “joke” about being […]
There’s a long way to go before the electric car revolution even comes close to the version that currently exists in everybody’s heads. Getting enough rare-Earth minerals to ramp up EV production at the scale most have in mind will be a big challenge. Then there are other issues related to safety thanks to EVs’ […]
It’s no surprise the government cheats when it prosecutes people. Judge Jed Rakoff pointed this out while resigning from the DOJ’s Forensic Science Committee when it became clear the DOJ was not interested in rooting out junk science. He called the government’s refusal to allow defendants to examine forensic means and methods “trial by ambush.” […]
So, yes, I’ve written a few things now on Elon’s silly excuses for his frantic speedrun through the content moderation learning curve. It’s getting more mainstream press because of journalist accounts getting banned (including, this morning, Insider’s Linette Lopez, who did not post any “doxing” info but has reported critically on Musk for years, which […]
Every so often, Techdirt writes about the long-standing problem of orphan works, the huge collection of older creations that are out of circulation and have no obvious owners. Arguably, they should be called “hostage works”, since they remain uselessly locked away by rigid and outdated copyright laws, to no one’s benefit. Despite that, the copyright […]
The 2023 CISSP Security and Risk Management Training Bundle has 8 courses to help you prepare for 8 different CISSP certification exams. CISSP is the gold standard for security certifications. It covers the breadth of information security’s deep technical and managerial concepts. You’ll be learning to effectively design, engineer, and manage the overall security posture […]
Look, I fucking warned Elon that this is exactly how it would go. It’s how it always goes. Remember Parler? They promised that they would moderate “based off the FCC and the Supreme court of the United States” (a nonsensical statement for a variety of reasons, including that the FCC does not regulate websites). Then, […]
We’ve written a bunch of posts concerning KOSA, the Kids Online Safety Act, which is one of those moral panic kinds of bills that politicians and the media love to get behind, without really understanding what they mean, or the damage they’d do. We’ve covered how it will lead to greater surveillance of children (which […]
Well. Just after finishing that last post about Twitter banning the official Mastodon account on Twitter for tweeting about the ElonJet tracking account existing on Mastodon, it seems that whatever brakes or controls were in place at the new “free speech absolutist” Twitter have really come off. In quick succession, a whole bunch of high […]
Oh, Elon. Following on yesterday’s nonsense in banning the ElonJet account that robotically posted the public information regarding Elon’s private plane flights, and then trying to justify it later (after initially promising to keep the account alive to demonstrate his “commitment to free speech”), it appears that Elon’s commitment to free speech continues to dwindle. […]
This is some kind of ugly. When law enforcement starts talking about being “proactive,” it’s time to start worrying about your rights. Here’s what happened to Myriam Parada after a routine traffic stop. Parada ended up in the Anoka County Jail after an officer discovered that she had been driving without a license. While going […]
We’ve noted several times how telecom and media giants are running a sleazy year-long smear campaign against Biden FCC nominee Gigi Sohn, in the hopes of blocking her confirmation vote and miring the agency in perpetual consumer protection gridlock. The attacks have been carefully seeded across the US press through various think tanks and nonprofits, and accuse […]
The US Supreme Court has a big year ahead with lots of weighty matters to consider in 2023. But the seriousness of their job doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate each justice’s special day! If you would like to know when to fill your heart with warm birthday wishes for your favorite justice, here are all […]
Get hands-free access to your phone conveniently displayed from your rearview mirror. Phone Vine Plus will maintain a steady grip on your device with the adjustable power grippers that expand to accommodate a phone up to 3.75 inches wide. The added pop-down feet give your phone extra support. Phone Vine Plus has the 360-degree rotating […]
Malware and exploit developers are generating a seemingly endless number of headlines, thanks to misuse of their products by government entities. Israel’s NSO Group has made the most headlines, but other Israel-located malware purveyors have made the news as well. Candiru, another Israeli exploit developer, was hit with the same sanctions the US Commerce Department […]
Techirt has long discussed how in the modern era, the things you buy aren’t actually the things you buy. And the things you own aren’t actually the things you own. Things you thought you owned can be downgraded, bricked, or killed off entirely without much notice. That game console with backward compatibility? It no longer has backward compatibility. That smart home […]
Square Enix, the game studio behind famous video game franchises like the Final Fantasy series, is well known to be a big believer in intellectual property enforcement. Just on our pages alone, we’ve talked about the times they struck out against folks selling replica swords from its games, or fan-made productions featuring Square IP in […]
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