Back in February, the Biden administration issued an executive order preventing the “large-scale transfer” of Americansâ personal data to “countries of concern.” The restrictions cover genomic data, biometric data, personal health data, geolocation data, and financial data, with the goal of preventing this data from being exploited by foreign intelligence agencies. This week the administration […]
When it comes to comedy, there is a principle that a physical gag will be funny if done 3 times, but then will stop being funny on any further attempts unless it reaches a much higher number, like 9. To see this in action, you need only look at this clip of the classic gag […]
Excited delirium just won’t go away. No medical association recognizes this condition as factually true. And no cop shop will ever move away from using it as a handy excuse for in-custody killings, at least not until forced to by state legislators. Excited delirium actually pre-dates its current status as the go-to excuse for cops […]
One of the many interesting aspects of the current enthusiasm for generative AI is the way that it has electrified the formerly rather sleepy world of copyright. Where before publishers thought they had successfully locked down more or less everything digital with copyright, they now find themselves confronted with deep-pocketed companies â both established ones like Google […]
Iâm not sure Iâve ever seen a government official go from sending a clearly censorial First Amendment-violating threat letter to quitting his job to telling a court, âI was pressured to do that and I resigned so that I wouldnât do that againâ so quickly. Last week, we wrote about the fairly notable ruling in […]
People are censoring books all over the country, thanks mainly to a new wave of hatred encouraged and blessed by a failed businessman and marginal golfer who somehow managed to be elected president for a single term. These book ban laws encourage activists with “conservative views” (you know which ones) to “challenge” any content they […]
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I talk a lot about confirmation bias here because itâs at the heart of many of the debates and discussions regarding disinformation. Itâs something we can all fall prey to, at times. But lately, Iâve been thinking a lot more about what makes one more susceptible to confirmation bias, and Iâm increasingly coming around to […]
Back in July, the Biden FCC voted to make unlocking your phone easier. As a result, the agency is now crafting new rules that would require that wireless carriers unlock customersâ mobile phones within 60days of activation, even if you’re still under contract. Wireless giant T-Mobile, which used to have a consumer-friendly reputation until its […]
As they say, the wheels of justice grind slowly. The presumed upside is that they grind finely, which means every periodic iteration should produce better outcomes. And maybe that’s true in some cases. (Cases handled in the Fifth Circuit, not so much.) This one’s in the Fifth Circuit but at least hasn’t suffered the possible […]
A few years ago agricultural equipment giant John Deere found itself on the receiving end of an antitrust lawsuit for its efforts to monopolize tractor repair. The lawsuits noted that the company consistently purchased competing repair centers in order to consolidate the sector and force customers into using the companyâs own repair facilities, driving up costs and […]
There are examples of the Streisand Effect… and then there are examples of the Streisand Effect. And, frankly, what Intuit just decided to do to itself must surely be one of the most explosive and idiotic examples of the Streisand Effect I’ve ever come across. Readers here will be familiar with our posts about Intuit. […]
Letâs be honest, Christopher Rufo is the ratfucking king. While I donât agree with him about anything, when it comes to dirty tricks, nobody does it half as good as him, heâs the best. Whenever Rufo releases a new report, the “woke” tremble, and pray heâs targeting someone else. Rufoâs current crusade is focused on […]
The Fifth Circuit Appeals Court continues to hand down dumb decisions rewarding law enforcement for rights violations. And the Supreme Court — yes, this Supreme Court — keeps sending those decisions back for a do-over. In December 2017, Laredo PD officers arrested local independent journalist, Priscilla Villarreal, for the alleged crime of “misusing official information.” […]
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Often when internet companies change their terms of service, there will be a short freakout from people overreacting and not really understanding the language of whatâs in there. We see these stories every so often, frequently around things like licensing terms (which sites are effectively required to have to get permission to host user-generated content). […]
For much of the last decade, cable giants like Comcast (Xfinity) and Charter (Spectrum) have been protected from TV “cord cutting” by one simple fact: they enjoyed a monopoly over broadband access across vast swaths of the U.S. That monopoly means that if a customer ditched traditional TV, Comcast or Charter could recoup any losses […]
The Supreme Court’s Carpenter decision created a warrant requirement for obtaining location data from service providers. It was a limited ruling, albeit one that has had far-ranging implications. Thanks to this ruling, law enforcement agencies have started buying location data from third-party brokers, rather than suffer the apparent indignity of having to ask a judge […]
I’ve talked about Shawn Layden before. And in admiring terms, too. In the wake of the much of the industry consolidation we saw in the video game space last year, his comments about both what that would mean for creativity within gaming, the creation of entirely new titles, and even moreso what he said about […]
Fortunately, not everything the Supreme Court does these days is absolutely horrible. In this case (handled by the Institute for Justice) a Missouri man can resume his lawsuit against the officer who arrested him for… well, for reasons the cop ginned up well after the arrest had already happened. Mason Murphy was minding his own […]
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