I’ve been trying to explain this in all sorts of ways: Elon Musk’s understanding of free speech does not have anything to do with actual free speech. And, for the most part, it seemed that people who understand this stuff got that. But I remain surprised at how many otherwise intelligent people seem to be […]
For more than forty years, the GOP (and to a more sporadic degree the DNC) mindlessly supported giant corporations, consolidation, and monopolization. The evidence is everywhere (banking, insurance, health, air travel, energy), but particularly obvious in telecom. The GOP has endlessly, ceaselessly, cheered on telecom monopolization, and all it usually entails (high prices, poor service, […]
Back in September we wrote about a lawsuit between Flying Dog Brewery and the state of North Carolina over the latter’s Alcohol Beverage Control Board (ABC Board) denying a beer label for use within the state. The ABC Board refused to certify the label for use on the grounds that it was vulgar and offensive, […]
Earlier this year, we wrote about how the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, better known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses — despite a long history of litigating many, many important 1st Amendment cases — had thrown away its reputation as a staunch defender of free speech rights by massively abusing the DMCA 512(h) subpoena process […]
Mike Lindell just used to be a guy selling overpriced pillows to people who liked to buy overpriced pillows. But when Donald Trump was elected, he threw his entire company under the Trump campaign bus, making it clear Lindell was willing to ride The Donald’s coat tails into relevance. What used to be just a […]
There are many good things to say about the Eleventh Circuit’s decision on the Florida SB 7072 social media law, including that it’s a very well-reasoned, coherent, logical, sustainable, precedent-consistent, and precedent-supporting First Amendment analysis explaining why platforms moderating user-generated speech still implicates their own protected rights. And not a moment too soon, while we […]
Well, well. As we still wait to see what the Supreme Court will do about the 5th Circuit’s somewhat bizarre, and reasonless reinstatement of Texas’ ridiculously bad social media content moderation bill, the 11th Circuit has come out with what might be a somewhat rushed decision going mostly in the other direction, and saying that […]
The Bose Series 2 Bluetooth Headset provides up to 4.5 hours of talk time and 100 hours of standby time so you can keep in touch with friends, family, and business associates when you’re on the go. The Bluetooth wireless headset is engineered to automatically adjust as noise levels change so that you can hear […]
The much-abused Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (passed in 1986) will no longer be abused quite as much… at least by the Department of Justice. The DOJ recently issued a revised policy [PDF] on CFAA prosecutions — one that states the DOJ will no longer bring charges against security researchers operating in good faith. The […]
At some point U.S. regulators effectively declared that it was okay to rip off consumers with a dizzying array of bogus fees, letting companies falsely advertise one rate, then sock you with a bunch of additional surcharges when the bill comes due. That’s particularly true of the cable and broadband industry, which has saddled consumers […]
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is an anonymous comment about New York’s blatantly unconstitutional investigation into online platforms in the wake of the Buffalo shooting: So, what the’re saying is… This guy was able to leave a HUGE trail of information about his hate crimes… But now they want to […]
Five Years Ago This week in 2017, the NSA was pushing for a smooth renewal of Section 702 while more details were revealed about the process, and more info was emerging on the agency’s abuse of other programs. Meanwhile, we looked at the FCC’s efforts to make net neutrality supporters seem unreasonable, even though it […]
You will recall that we have been discussing a trademark suit between Sycamore Brewing and Stone Brewing recently. As you can see in images in the post we did about the lawsuit, and then the follow up post on the battle over an injunction requiring Stone Brewing to sticker over the offending branding, it’s pretty […]
The New York Times has obtained more information about the FBI’s courting of NSO Group, something that has since raised questions from its oversight. An earlier report from the Times stated that NSO Group had arrived at FBI headquarters in 2019 to allow the agency to test drive a version of its Pegasus malware, one […]
While they’re not impervious, at least you know where you stand with a good, old fashioned dumb lock. That’s in stark contrast to so-called “smart” locks, which studies have repeatedly shown to be easily compromised with minimal effort. One report showed that 12 of 16 smart locks they tested could be relatively easily hacked thanks to flimsy […]
Last month I wrote about how, contrary to the weird narrative, Twitter has actually been among the most aggressive companies fighting for free speech online. While many people criticize it, they are wrong, or just uninformed. Mostly, they think (falsely) that because Twitter doesn’t want some speech that you like on their site, it somehow […]
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has long made its own case for abolishment. Before ICE earned its current reputation as a fake-school running, report-altering, rogue agency interested in ejecting as many non-white people from America as possible, ICE ran interference for entrenched industries. This led to things like ICE officers raiding small repair shops to […]
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One of the more frustrating things about the various “debates” regarding “free speech” lately, is how little they are actually about free speech. Quite often, they are actually about people who are quite upset about having to face social consequences for their own free speech. But facing social consequences has always been part of free […]
Back in early 2016, Parma, Ohio resident Anthony Novak decided to have a little fun. He created a parody of the Parma Police Department’s Facebook page and began posting obviously satirical announcements, like the following: The Parma Civil Service Commission will conduct a written exam for basic Police Officer for the City of Parma to […]
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