Support us on Patreon » We’re finally getting back into the rhythm of things, and in fact right at this very moment Mike is recording a brand new original episode for next week on the podcast — but this week, we’ve got a cross-post and a special extra treat. Mike recently once again joined Andy Levy […]
While political reporters are still doing their view-from-nowhere “Democrats say this, Republicans say that” dance, tech and legal journalists have been watching an unfortunately recognizable plan unfold — a playbook we’re all too familiar with. We’ve seen how technology can be wielded to consolidate power, how institutional guardrails can be circumvented through technical and legal […]
The recent book “Character Limit” exposes a perfect case study in destructive arrogance: Twitter was already building more sophisticated versions of everything Musk claimed he wanted. But Musk and his sycophants were so convinced of their own brilliance, and so certain everyone at Twitter was an idiot, they didn’t even bother to understand what was […]
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 […]
Trump’s second term has elevated a bunch of people who have no idea what they’re doing to positions of power where every blunder is just considered to be the acceptable outcome for an administration that likes breaking things even more than it likes moving fast. The Department of Government Efficiency still isn’t an official government […]
Like many big companies, Verizon eagerly signed up for Trump 2.0 excited to get tax cuts, rubber stamped merger approvals, attacks on organized labor, and oodles of unaccountable subsidies. But as is often the deal with authoritarian zealots (and force-wielding intergalactic warlords with deep-rooted mommy issues), the deal you think you struck can and will […]
We talk a lot here about the concept of “ownership” of what we spend money on, particularly as it relates to purchases that are digital or have some reliance on internet connectivity. Despite being related, those two categories are actually quite distinct. On the one hand, you have situations where a company may go out […]
At a time when Section 230 faces unprecedented threats from all sides — with both major political parties gunning for it, albeit for opposite reasons — understanding this crucial internet law has never been more important. That’s probably why our “Hello! You’ve Been Referred Here Because You’re Wrong About Section 230” post remains one of […]
You never think the worst thing imaginable can actually happen. But sometimes it does. And when it does there is not a moment to lose coming to terms with it so you can start to do what needs to be done to deal with it. Because whether you are suddenly facing being diagnosed with a […]
The Party of Mooks has ascended to the top tier yet again. We’re all going to pay the price for this, even the mooks that think electing mooks will elevate them from their own mook-hood. Republicans have spent most of the past decade complaining about things like diversity, inclusion, and equitable treatment of American residents […]
Look, I’m no rocket-building super-genius*, but I have this weird idea that if you want to make an organization more efficient, you might start by talking to the people who are… already making it efficient? A crazy idea, I know. (*Neither are some other people who pretend to be). But Elon Musk had a different […]
The 2025 ChatGPT Skills and Creativity Bundle has 5 courses to help you learn how to use AI in your daily life. Courses cover creative writing, office and personal productivity, travel planning, content creation, and more. It’s on sale for $30. Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. A portion of […]
Well, this didn’t last long. For a state as staunchly conservative as South Dakota, this is somewhat of a surprise. But less than a week after a bill mandating the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms was forwarded to a vote by the House committee, the South Dakota House rejected this odious […]
The FCC runs an $8 billion federal subsidy program to help bring phone and broadband services to lower income homes and schools called the Universal Service Fund. The program was historically a bipartisan thing, until the extremist Trump administration came to town. Driven by a fake right wing consumer group called “Consumers’ Research,” the Trumplican-stacked Fifth Circuit court […]
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is MrWilson with a comment about US Attorney Ed Martin’s apparent personal intimidation campaign against Trump/Musk rivals: Note the direct association of “putting America first” with the act of adhering to a presidential executive order that can only apply to government employees. Sycophantry to authoritarianism […]
Five Years Ago This week in 2020, a court finally dumped one of Devin Nunes’ ridiculous lawsuits only for him to immediately promise to file another, while Public Citizen weighed in on why the famous cow’s information should be protected under the First Amendment and a watchdog group asked the Congressional Ethics Office to investigate […]
A couple of years back, we talked about how Ubisoft handled its own accidental leak of the Beyond Good & Evil remaster to its subscribers. Months before it was due to be released, a technical error resulted in an incomplete version of the game suddenly being available on Ubisoft+. Some people grabbed copies of it, […]
Last November, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released Steam-Powered Hate, accusing Valve’s game launcher, Steam, of fostering extremism. The report dropped just before Senator Mark Warner, a SAFE TECH Act proponent, threatened Steam’s owner, raising concerns about the political motivations behind the ADL’s claims. The ADL analyzed over one billion data points, flagging just 0.5% as […]
During peak COVID lockdowns, New York State passed a law requiring that ISPs (with more than 20,000 subscribers) offer low-income state residents (and low income residents only) a 25 Mbps broadband tier for $15. Big Telecom didn’t much like that, but their multi-year effort to kill the law, first passed in 2021, recently fell apart […]
You shouldn’t need a permission slip to read a webpage—whether you do it with your own eyes, or use software to help. AI is a category of general-purpose tools with myriad beneficial uses. Requiring developers to license the materials needed to create this technology threatens the development of more innovative and inclusive AI models, as well […]
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