When Apple unveiled its AR/VR Vision Pro headset early last year the product was met with just an absolute ocean of tech press hype. You couldn’t spend thirty seconds online without reading about how the expensive ($3,500-$4,600 depending on accessories) headset was going to revolutionize every industry in existence or change absolutely everything. Seriously: everything. […]
There are no winners here. There are only varying levels of losses. The government sustains the most. As it should. When there needs to be an adult in the room, the government bears that responsibility, no matter how irritating the proverbial child might be. That means the most childish person will learn nothing from this […]
Elon Musk is once again threatening to sue over speech he dislikes — this time, over factual headlines about a deadly explosion involving a Tesla Cybertruck. But not liking how a story is framed doesn’t make it defamatory. For a statement to be defamatory, it must be false, damaging, and published with “reckless disregard for […]
To completely understand computer security, it’s vital to step outside the fence and to think outside the box. Computer security is not just about firewalls, Intrusion Prevention Systems, or anti-viruses. It’s also about tricking people into doing whatever a hacker wishes. A secure system, network, or infrastructure is also about informed people. The All-in-One Super-Sized […]
With the exception of ABC News being weird and just throwing cash at Trump for no apparent reason, every libel lawsuit filed by Donald Trump (or his various business holdings) has failed. This is another one for the loss column. And, despite all these losses, Trump will continue filing lawsuits whenever and wherever there’s a […]
Another day, another major privacy scandal we’ll likely do nothing about. Health care giant Ascension — which owns 140 hospitals and assisted living facilities — says that a May cyberattack compromised the sensitive data of more than 5.6 million patients. According to a filing with the Maine Attorney General and a December 19th post to […]
It’s a new year, and that means new works are entering the public domain, and that means it’s time for the latest installment of our public domain game jam, Gaming Like It’s 1929! If you’ve been itching to get started on your entry, now’s the time — you’ve got until the end of the month […]
As is the tradition on Techdirt, my final post of the year is about optimism and how I continue to be optimistic about innovation and online community, even in the midst of whatever other nonsense may be happening around the globe. This is now my 16th such post. The trend kicked off in 2008 when […]
A couple of weeks back, we discussed the implosion of startup company Embodied and the resulting bricking of its $800 “emotional support” robots designed for children. Like many other stories about IoT-type products, the post focused on how these robots would cease functioning as designed once the backend support infrastructure for the shuttered business was […]
Last December, we published a recap, “2023: The Year of AI Panic.” Now, it’s time to ask: What happened to the AI panic in 2024? TL;DR – It was a rollercoaster ride: AI panic reached a peak and then fell down. Two cautionary tales: The EU AI Act and California’s SB-1047. Please note: 1. The focus here […]
The inevitable has happened and Elon has started banning and suppressing the speech of folks who were “on his team,” leading to many suddenly realizing that maybe he wasn’t such a free speech supporter after all. Look, we’ve spent the better part of the last three years pointing out that Elon Musk does not understand […]
Age verification laws saw an unfathomable renaissance in 2024. It’s quite frightening to see a political class of predominately far-right Christian nationalists implement the anti-porn vision of Project 2025 without President-elect Donald Trump yet entering the White House. These laws coming out of state legislatures are scripted like how Russell Vought, a controversial architect of Project […]
Visio is Microsoft’s ultimate tool for diagramming. Large, complex data can be too technical and overwhelming. That’s where Visio comes in. With dozens of premade templates, starter diagrams, and stencils, presenting is way easier. Flowcharts, org charts, floor plans, diagrams, and more! Create easy-to-understand visuals with confidence. It’s on sale for $19.97 for a limited […]
For the better part of thirty years telecom giants (and the consultants, think tanks, and lobbyists paid to defend them) have fought against every effort at coherent federal oversight. It didn’t matter whether it was modest privacy standards or basic pricing transparency, the argument that was if you stripped away coherent state and federal government […]
Updated: This post has been updated, as the original potentially overclaimed both what the FTC settlement said regarding what Evolv could market as well as Evolv’s response to it (suggesting it would try to limit the settlement it agreed to). We regret the misleading descriptions and have updated the article accordingly. Evolv might be new […]
The new year is approaching fast, and that means it’s time for our annual look at the highest-voted comments of the year on Techdirt (as usual, including the top three in each category). This year’s list is something of an inverse of last year’s: while 2023 had only a couple winning comments from anonymous commenters, […]
As we announced earlier this month, we’re once again celebrating the new year with the latest edition of our public domain game jam, Gaming Like It’s 1929! With 2025 just a few days away, it’s time to get ready. Whether you’re an experienced game designer, a total newbie, or anything in between, we want you […]
Earlier this year, we talked about a fairly silly trademark dispute in the UK between beverage company Thatchers and German grocer Aldi. At issue was competing lemon cider products offered by both companies. Thatchers makes a product named its “Cloud Lemon Cider”, while Aldi sells its “Taurus Cloud Cider.” Thatchers complained that the products were […]
It takes a pretty weird string of coincidences to turn a Google Street View car into a potential witness for the prosecution. But that’s what has happened here. Street View is pervasive. Some may also call it intrusive. Millions of miles are logged by drivers and pedestrians, year after year. And while those efforts to […]
I had seen this story before Christmas making the rounds on Bluesky, claiming that United Healthcare had sent DMCA takedowns to Teepublic to remove artist Rachel Kenaston’s illustration of Luigi Magione, the guy arrested for shooting and killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. While it does appear that Teepublic did, in fact, remove the image […]
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