Techdirt

One of the oldest and most important topics on Techdirt is copyright, and the many problems with the law both here and abroad. One of the best voices on the subject, here and in many other publications, is Glyn Moody, who recently released his book Walled Culture, that goes through the history of how legacy […]

We’ve written a bunch about how Ed Sheeran recognizes how batshit crazy current copyright law is. One of the most successful recording artists today, you’d think that maybe he’d be a copyright maximalist, and yet copyright just seems to keep getting in the way of his creativity. Sheeran has admitted that piracy made him successful. […]

The public domain is the natural state of creative material. It’s where creations end up once copyright’s monopoly has expired. Crucially, it is the quid pro quo for that monopoly. The deal is that the creator of a work is granted a government-enforced intellectual monopoly for a limited period, after which the work enters the public domain for anyone […]

GameGuru is a non-technical and fun game maker that offers an easy, enjoyable and comprehensive game creation process that is designed specifically for those who are not programmers or designers/artists. It allows you to build your own game world with easy to use tools. Populate your game by placing down characters, weapons, and other game items, […]

Back in March, we noted that the EU and US had announced that they had come to an agreement on transatlantic data flows. This is actually a really big and important story that gets almost no attention, because “transatlantic data flows” sounds boring. However, it’s really, really big and matters for the future of a […]

It will never stop being bizarre to me that a social media app tried to claim ownership of VR, AR, and effectively every next-gen, Internet-related technology under the “Metaverse” brand… and the entirety of the tech press just simply… went along with it. As a result, we’ve spent the better part of the last few […]

It seems that trademark shenanigans are becoming something of a corporate tradition for the folks over at Oatly. The Swedish oat-milk maker, backed by several celebrities, last made it onto our pages first for suing another oat-milk producer essentially for having the word “oat” in its brand name… and then for losing that lawsuit because […]

We’ve been writing about journalist Jason Leopold for many years, either focused on his FOIA adventures or the amazing (and important) scoops he achieves through them. If you look back through our archives, you’ll see that Leopold knows how to use freedom of information laws basically better than anyone, and thus wields them effectively to […]

The Uvalde (Texas) PD’s response to a school shooting was to show up and then do nothing for more than an hour. Nearly 400 law enforcement officers from multiple agencies hung back as a gunman terrorized a classroom full of elementary school students, ultimately killing 19 kids and two teachers. The officers at the scene […]

At this point, it seems exceptionally likely that Elon Musk will own Twitter within a few weeks. Because nothing is predictable in this saga, you never know, but the odds are that by Halloween Twitter will be Muskville. We’ll have plenty of time to talk about what that means, but in our post about Musk’s […]

People come up with some really strange stuff to do when they have a modicum of power and apparently no idea how to utilize it responsibly. Such is the case at Northeastern University, a research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. A few days ago, students and faculty noticed a new addition to their desks: motion […]

The 2023 Premium Learn to Code Bundle has 14 courses to help you brush up on your coding skills. Courses cover Python, C++, Django, Javascript, Google Go, Ruby on Rails, and more. You’ll learn how to build websites, apps, bots, and other fun projects. It’s on sale for $25. Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is […]

Over the years, we’ve posted so many different stories about questionable decisions by PayPal to cut off services from users it objected to, or even seizing the money in their account that it’s impossible to dig up all of those stories. But, by now, we’ve seen well over a decade of PayPal acting as some […]

Back in 2016, Alphabet executives made it pretty clear they had grown tired of trying to disrupt the U.S. broadband industry with Google Fiber. Executives were fired, hundreds of employees were laid off, and any real expansion in the project was effectively frozen. Alphabet and Google Fiber executives then just pretended none of this had […]

This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is an anonymous comment about publishers claiming that their lawsuit against the Internet Archive won’t impact any of its services beyond the Open Library: About as believable as Putin’s claim tat 96% of those polled wanted to become Russians. In second place, it’s a lengthy […]

Five Years Ago This week in 2017, ISPs were ignoring the death of “six strikes” and still threatening to disconnect accused pirates, and also taking their third shot at getting the Supreme Court to kill net neutrality, while broadband lobbyists were gushing over the re-appointment of Ajit Pai, who was himself busy blasting Apple for […]

If you’ve ever tried to build a “smart home” you’ve probably run face first into no shortage of problems. Gear is expensive, overly complicated, and more often than not different devices don’t play well together. It’s a sector filled with various walled gardens by gatekeepers looking to lock you into one ecosystem, placing the onus […]

Every unhappy populace is unhappy in its own way, but every autocratic regime is the same. Vietnam may have embraced a form of capitalism that made it inviting to foreigners, but the government’s embrace has always been a bit on the strangulation side. Sure, Vietnam citizens may have more opportunities for earning money than running […]

Why won’t this tattoo copyright thing die? We’ve talked about several instances over the past few years involving someone famous having their likeness faithfully reproduced, in an authorized fashion, in video game media. Take-Two has been involved in more than one of these disputes, which tend to amount to a tattoo artist or company claiming […]

These days, the conspiracy-minded GOP candidates (who seem to be an increasing majority of the party right now) seem to believe that there needs to be a conspiracy against them or they’re just not that important. It can be the deep state, big tech, or the “woke banks” or whatever, but someone must be coming […]

The FBI has always played it fast and loose with FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) requirements. It tries to get away with it by shifting its self-perception as needed. When asked why it’s bypassing limitations on backdoor searches, it will plead ignorance, gesturing with its massive hairy hands thoughtfully and saying it’s nothing more than […]

The Coding 101 Bootcamp Beginners Bundle has 10 courses to help you learn all about coding. Courses cover C++, Node.js, HTML, CSS, Python, Kotlin, and more. It’s on sale for $25. Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. A portion of all sales from Techdirt Deals helps support Techdirt. The products […]

So, we were just talking about the Supreme Court agreeing to take some cases that could determine the future of the internet (as in, potentially ruining it), but before that it may be on the path to could destroy some of the basics of art. Next week, the Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments […]

After an inexplicable year-plus delay, the FCC is finally circulating a new order that should help dramatically reduce the number of illegal, annoying, and scam robotexts received by wireless subscribers. The FCC order, which was introduced more than a year ago, was only finally voted on and approved this week. The order begins the process […]

We’ve talked about Authentic Brands Group here a couple of times and never for good behavior. The company that manages the rights for several living and deceased celebrities is also a notorious trademark troll and enforcer. Most recently we discussed a bizarre trademark opposition brought against Shaqir O’Neal, Shaq’s son, who had the trademark application […]

There are a number of different tools out there that let you download YouTube videos. These tools are incredibly useful for a number of reasons and should be seen as obviously legal in the same manner that home video recording devices were declared legal by the Supreme Court, because they have substantial non-infringing uses. But, […]

When last we checked in with One America News (OAN), it was trying (with the help of numerous Republican AGs) to pretend that DirecTV’s decision to boot the barely watched conspiracy network from its cable lineup was part of a vast, diabolical cabal to censor conservatives (it wasn’t). It then decided to attack Verizon, right before that […]

Rap music has long conveyed the narrative of the streets. As such, its subject matter often details violence, police oppression, and criminal activities. And the expression itself often provides the only legitimate potential source of income for people living in impoverished, high-crime areas. But it’s only in recent years that cops and prosecutors have decided […]

Enjoy convenient charging and fast data transfer with the Mini 5-in-1 Type-C to USB Hub. The cable is coated in 4.5mm of thick PVC material and has reinforced joints making it durable and able to withstand heavy use. The galvanized wire core, aluminum alloy, and multi-layer shielding help provide a fast, stable data transmission. Plug […]

I’m only a human being, and not a machine, so it’s beyond my ability to keep track of all the times that Donald Trump has threatened to sue CNN for defamation, or actually carried through, on his threat. I will just note that it seems to happen a lot. None of these lawsuits have actually […]

Last year we noted how FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr had launched a bad faith effort suggesting that “big tech” gets a “free ride” on the internet, and should be forced to fund broadband expansion. This argument, that tech giants like Google and Netflix somehow get a free ride (they don’t) and should “pay their fair share” to […]

Cops kill dogs literally all the time. It happens so often even the DOJ has taken notice. Laurel Matthews, a supervisory program specialist with the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (DOJ COPS) office, says it’s an awful lot. She calls fatal police vs. dogs encounters an “epidemic” and estimates that 25 to 30 […]

It is difficult to understate how downright evil the big book publishers are. If you think the RIAA and MPA are bad (and, they are), the book publishers take it to new super villain, mustache-twirling levels. George Washington University libraries have put out an alert to students and faculty that Wiley, one of the largest […]

The FCC is finally starting to toughen up when it comes to tackling our nationwide robocall scourge. The agency announced this week that it will soon kick seven voice-over IP providers out of its database of trusted carriers if they continue to fail to implement safeguards against robocalls: “This is a new era. If a […]

So… this is a thing that happened. Adam Satariano reports for the New York Times: The coroner overseeing the case, who in Britain is a judgelike figure with wide authority to investigate and officially determine a person’s cause of death, was far less circumspect. On Friday, he ruled that Instagram and other social media platforms […]

The Mobile Pixels Mini Mouse is a comfortable mouse built for your PC or notebook. Its great build quality encourages long-term use, and the ultra-thin profile makes it easy to store as well. This mini wireless mouse features Bluetooth connectivity, so there’s no need for any unnecessary cords. You can use the integrated red laser […]

I know that Elon claims he’s decided he might actually live up to what he promised to do in the binding contract he signed to buy Twitter, but I still wanted to discuss some of the text messages that became public last week as part of the case, showing text messages between Musk and various […]

Last week we noted how Google’s streaming game service, Stadia, is finally being shut down. Google had initially tried deny the obvious last July when rumors began circulating that the company was preparing its exit strategy. This denial apparently resulted in many of the service’s own developers being left in the dark, given they were […]

You will hopefully recall our recent discussion about a taco restaurant, or taqueria, in the UK being bullied by Worldwide Taqueria because the latter had somehow gotten a trademark on the word “taqueria.” As we pointed out in the original post on the topic, everything about this is ridiculous. First, it’s absurd that the company […]

As you probably already know, Techdirt recently marked its 25th anniversary and celebrated the occasion with an online party for our Insider subscribers. At the event, Mike was joined by Techdirt co-founder Dennis Yang for an interview conducted by Alex Feerst of Murmuration Labs, in which they looked back on the history of the site […]

So this was unexpected (well, perhaps not that unexpected) but Elon Musk sent a letter to Twitter last night stating he now intends to move ahead with the original deal to buy Twitter, with no changes to the terms. Gentlemen: On behalf of X Holdings I, Inc., X Holdings II, Inc. and Elon R. Musk […]

Engaging in performative litigation may be fun to do and score points with your fan base. But, sooner or later, these theatrical productions tend to generate actual costs — something that can’t be offset with shares and retweets, or even votes at the polls. Laura Loomer, an alt-right personality mostly known for ineffectively handcuffing herself […]

In most cases, it does not do you any good to try to be funny in legal filings. In most cases, judges will not be that amused (even if those same judges sometimes try to make jokey rulings). In the world of the courts, the judges can be funny, but no one else should try. […]

This Apple Watch Portable USB Charger allows you to charge anytime, anywhere. With a built-in magnetic adsorption module, you can charge your watch immediately after contact. This charger has the ability to charge your watch within 2 to 3 hours fully. It’s lightweight and portable, so you can charge your watch while traveling, when working […]

So, plenty of Supreme Court watchers and Section 230 experts all knew that this term was going to be a big one for Section 230… it’s just that we all expected the main issue to be around the Netchoice cases regarding Florida and Texas’s social media laws (those cases will likely still get to SCOTUS […]

Despite being hugely qualified and popular across both sides of the aisle, Congress still hasn’t approved Gigi Sohn to the FCC, leaving the agency without the voting majority to do anything popular or even remotely controversial, such as restoring net neutrality, the FCC’s consumer protection authority, or the media consolidation rules stripped away during the […]

The long saga of one of the most infamous internet “Karens” has come to a close as New York City resident Amy Cooper, a.k.a. “Central Park Karen,” has lost her defamation lawsuit against her former employer. (h/t Volokh Conspiracy) The same day unarmed black man George Floyd was being murdered by a white police officer, […]

I get that stock photos are a thing and that political campaigns or teams may be pressed for time, but some things really shouldn’t be so hard. If you follow politics, you may be aware that House Republicans, led by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, unveiled an agenda for 2023 politics it’s calling “Commitment to America.” […]

For years, defenders of pharma patents loved to claim that the reason that they needed patents and the reason they had to charge extortionate rates for drugs was because of the high cost of R&D for new drugs. The numbers keep going up. When I first started covering pharma patents, the number bandied about was […]

People who fail to understand the basics of supply and demand continue to insist suppliers want to kill potential customers. The DEA is leading the charge, engaging in hysterics while pretending to present facts, claiming that recent busts involving multicolored fentanyl indicate drug dealers are targeting children — children prone to ingesting pills that look […]