Despite the best efforts of automakers and companies like Apple, states continue to push forward with popular “right to repair” reforms that make it easier and more affordable for consumers to repair tech they own. While they vary in potency, New York, Oregon, California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Maine, and Minnesota have all now passed some flavor of right to […]
The fractured entertainment streaming environment we’re currently in continues to be a problem. Where’s that thing you want to watch? Well, not only could it be in one of a dozen places today, depending on what agreements have been worked out with content owners, but where that content can be streamed might also change in […]
In the ongoing battle between Elon Musk and the Brazilian Supreme Court, it appears that Elon was the first to blink. At least a little bit. What started to shape up as a new front in the battle, with Elon’s SpaceX defying the order to block X on its Starlink satellite internet service, crumbled on […]
When it comes to Judge Reed O’Connor, the only thing more predictable than his partisan rulings is the Supreme Court overturning them. But that hasn’t stopped him from giving the green light to Elon Musk’s ridiculous SLAPP suit against Media Matters. O’Connor’s problematic decision basically means that Elon has won. Even if the eventual case […]
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit concluded, in Anderson v. TikTok, that algorithmic recommendations aren’t protected by Section 230. Because they’re the platforms’ First Amendment-protected expression, the court reasoned, algorithms are the platforms’ “own first-party speech,” and thus fall outside Section 230’s liability shield for the publication of third-party speech. […]
Well, here’s a not-so-fun new twist in the search-and-seizure narrative. Car owners are being deprived of their vehicles just because cops think footage of a crime may have been captured by the car’s on-board cameras. Tesla’s vehicles carry more cameras than most. Added to the cars as a way to protect owners — either by […]
Level up your creative projects with this Adobe Elements Bundle. If you are new to it, or even a seasoned pro, the intuitive tools are designed to edit your photos and videos with precision. Photoshop Elements 2023 allows you to easily combine your photos into a collage, enhance them with artistic effects, and create overlays […]
Call me crazy, but I don’t think it’s a good thing when political leaders go around calling for the arresting or punishing of people for their speech, even when that speech is terrible. But apparently, former Clinton cabinet member Robert Reich feels differently. Indeed, it would be nice if the leadership of either major political […]
Last March Oregon became the seventh state to pass “right to repair” legislation making it easier, cheaper, and more convenient to repair technology you own. The bill’s passage came on the heels of legislation passed in Massachusetts (in 2012 and 2020), Colorado (in 2022 and 2023), New York (2023), Minnesota, Maine and California. All told, 30 states are considering […]
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is That One Guy with a comment about Oklahoma revoking the license of a teacher who pushed back against state censorship: ‘The only acceptable political agenda in the classroom is a conservative one!’ “There is no place for a teacher with a liberal political agenda […]
Five Years Ago This week in 2019, the Ninth Circuit was putting at least some limits on warrantless device searches at the border, while the EFF sued CBP and ICE for refusing to hand over GPS tracking device policies. The judge in one of Devin Nunes’s lawsuits asked for the identity of the famous Twitter […]
In the battle between Elon Musk and Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the biggest losers are Brazilians. They are now at risk of being stripped of VPNs while facing massive fines if they somehow get around a countrywide ban on ExTwitter. Yesterday, I wrote about the standoff between Elon Musk and Brazil, and […]
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed. In this week’s round-up of the latest news in online […]
In June of this year, the Supreme Court sent the Murthy case back to the lower courts. The Court argued that the plaintiffs all appeared to lack standing to sue the Biden administration over claims of social media censorship. While the Court focused on the standing issue, the majority opinion also made abundantly clear that […]
Well, here’s some more flavor to add to this horrendous mix of irresponsibility and privilege put in motion by Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina’s multiple moving violations earlier this year. Here’s a pretty solid recap of the incident, composed by a pretty solid writer, if I may be so bold and self-serving: Let’s run this […]
Was Mark Zuckerberg’s cringey spinelessness just an attempt to grovel before Donald Trump to avoid a vindictive criminal lawsuit? Given the timing of the letter coming out just before Trump’s new book that threatens to imprison Zuckerberg in a bout of authoritarian vindictiveness, it sounds like the reason Zuck is feeding the MAGA conspiracy theories […]
As a “trusted ally” in the government’s vast and unaccountable domestic surveillance programs, AT&T receives oodles of government favors. From broad and often mindless deregulation and massive deployment subsidies to $42 billion in tax breaks in exchange for doing absolutely nothing, the U.S. government adores slathering its patriotic partner with cash. Which makes it all […]
Let’s dial the clock all the way back to 2007 for just a moment. Beyonce was topping the charts with Irreplacable. Nicholas Cage, the greatest actor of all time, helped make National Treasure: Book of Secrets a hit at the box office. And Apple finally settled a years-long lawsuit against a website called Think Secret, […]
Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the well-known car manufacturer Volkswagen (VW). An article in the German Auto Motor und Sport magazine reports on a major shift in the way that VWFS, and hence VW, wants to operate (all translations by DeepL): Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS) is planning to introduce a new […]
There was a long period where journalists writing about failing media ventures loved to imply that these collapses meant online journalism was no longer profitable. In reality, the industry had simply become overly infected by waste and mismanagement at the hands of unqualified, affluent incompetents. Smaller worker-owned outlets are now trying to reverse the trend […]
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