Earlier this year the White House put out a document articulating a National Cybersecurity Strategy. It articulates five “pillars,” or high-level focus areas where the government should concentrate its efforts to strengthen the nation’s resilience and defense against cyberattacks: (1) Defend Critical Infrastructure, (2) Disrupt and Dismantle Threat Actors, (3) Shape Market Forces to Drive […]
We’ve covered the quixotic campaign of Stephen Thaler, who has filed lawsuits around the world arguing that he deserves to get copyrights and patents on writings and inventions created by DABUS, which Thaler claims is an AI that he created. He’s lost nearly every case as he attempts to do so, often embarrassingly, including one […]
For someone who’s a lawyer, a former prosecutor, a former mayor, and a former presidential confidant, Rudy Giuliani sure doesn’t seem to know his way around a lawsuit. It’s perhaps that last thing on that list that’s gotten him in the most trouble. Rather than recognize the peaceful transition of power that followed the 2020 […]
uTalk can help you start speaking like a native within minutes. Using the uTalk learning App you can listen to real native speakers to help you navigate through your next vacation or business trip. With more than 2,500 words and phrases to learn in each of our 150+ languages, the app gives you a running […]
It still amazes me that KOSA has any Democratic co-sponsors, let alone 21 Democratic co-sponsors in the Senate led by lead Democratic sponsor (and embracer of any bill that will undermine the internet it it lets him ignorantly grandstand about how terrible the internet is), Senator Richard Blumenthal. This includes some big names who purport […]
For the last decade or so, U.S. cable TV customers have been plagued by a steady parade of content blackouts as cable providers and broadcasters bicker over new programming contracts. For the end user, so-called “retransmission feuds” usually go something like this: a broadcaster demands a cable company pay significantly more money to carry the […]
Never let it be said the NYPD doesn’t know how to have a good time. The question remains as to whether it’s possible for the NYPD to allow others to have a good time. The NYPD has always been in the business of acquiring the latest in law enforcement tech. The arrival of easily affordable […]
Shocking the conscience. That’s the legal term for government actions that are so far from acceptable no one, not even cop-friendly courts, can deem them acceptable. A small Kansas PD — the one presiding over the town of Marion — managed to shock the national conscience by raiding the office of the Marion County Record, […]
We’ve got a another cross-post episode for you this week, on a subject near and dear to our hearts: protocols over platforms, and restoring decentralization online. Mike recently joined Danny O’Brien on the DWeb Decoded podcast to talk all about these topics, as well as tell a little story about Danny’s role in the founding […]
After years of irritating the DOJ with its refusal to compromise encryption, Apple suddenly went the other way after receiving criticism over its perceived inability to stop the distribution of CSAM (child sexual abuse material) via its devices and services. For a very brief moment, Apple decided it would no longer be a world leader […]
Not this shit again. A month ago, “free speech absolutist” Elon Musk sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) in an obvious SLAPP suit. As we said at the time, CCDH is, generally speaking, not a great organization. Their methodology is awful, and their reports are often silly. But they have a free speech […]
The HomeSpot Rugged Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker was built to keep up with your adventures. It deflects dust, dirt, and water – and is coated with a rubberized surface that you’ll feel comfortable bringing camping, rafting, and beyond. Best of all, this speaker truly delivers powerful sound that will fill even outdoor spaces with impressive audio. […]
I know that we’ve already pointed to a whole bunch of studies, using a variety of different methods that all show no evidence of any link at all between social media and teen depression, but it’s time to highlight another one. I mean, we just interviewed Professor Andy Przybylski, who published a study showing no […]
In 2017 the Wisconsin GOP, with Donald Trump and Paul Ryan at the head of the parade, struck what they claimed was an incredible deal with Foxconn to bring thousands of high paying jobs to the state. The project, which Trump dubbed the “the eighth wonder of the world,” provided the former president with several […]
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is a simple anonymous comment about “porn addiction”: Funny, porn is addictive is a line pushed by religious fascists who wish to tell everybody what is good or bad based on a book that has its fair share of porn. In second place, it’s Stephen […]
Five Years Ago This week in 2018, a security flaw at Charter Spectrum exposed the private data of millions of subscribers, while Big Telecom was trying out new tactics in its fight against net neutrality in California. An appeals court ruled that forcing someone to unlock their phone violates the fifth amendment, while another ruled […]
If you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide, right? That’s what law enforcement and surveillance agencies tell us, coaxing us into letting our guard down so they can dig into our stuff without worrying about little things like probable cause. Cops like to do their work without creating narratives they can’t challenge. Hence […]
There may come a time when journalists around the world are left to point at massive datacenters housing AI journo-bots that have perfectly replicated what human journalists can do, screaming “Dey took ‘er jerbs!” like a South Park episode, but today is not that day. And frankly, it doesn’t feel particularly close to being that […]
You may have noticed that there’s a massive, bipartisan push afoot to pass “right to repair” laws in many states making it easier and cheaper to repair the things you buy. In a bid to undermine those laws, automakers and companies like John Deere have been using a fairly consistent playbook. One, they’ll lie about […]
For years we’ve covered the silly triennial review process associated with Section 1201 of the DMCA. If you don’t know, Section 1201 is the part that makes circumvention of any “technological measures” a form of infringement, even if bypassing those technological measures is not for copyright infringing reasons. It’s actually even worse than that, because […]
stLouIST