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Listening to your favorite tunes coming out of a mini Gramophone style Bluetooth speaker is fun and this speaker is small enough to have on your desk while you do your work or as a part of the decor in your den while you are enjoying Sunday brunch and lounge around the house! Enjoy Olden [...]

What the fuck is wrong with state lawmakers? It seems that across the country, they cannot help but to introduce the absolute craziest, obviously unconstitutional bullshit, and seem shocked when people suggest the bills are bad. The latest comes from California state Senator Steve Padilla, who recently proposed a ridiculous bill, SB 1228, to end [...]

Earlier this month we noted how despite all of the sound, fury, and hyperventilation surrounding the push to ban TikTok, most Americans don't actually support such a move (you know, the whole representative democracy thing). Support is particularly lacking among young Democrats, a demographic the Biden administration has struggled to connect with in the wake [...]

Nigeria doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation when it comes to respecting the speech rights of its own citizens, nor the rights of platforms that its citizens use. By way of examples, there was the time that the country suspended Twitter for several months for the crime of taking down a tweet from its president [...]

Back in 2021, the Chicago Office of the Inspector General released a report on the PD's ShotSpotter tech. The acoustic detection system was apparently mostly useless, no matter what ShotSpotter may have commented in response. Residents of Chicago are paying nearly $11 million a year for this system. But it's obvious they're not getting much [...]

You might recall how popular telecom and media consumer advocate Gigi Sohn saw her nomination to the FCC scuttled after a variety of right wing and telecom-tethered lobbying groups ran a successful, year-long public smear campaign. The campaign tried to frame Sohn as an unhinged radical extremist, giving corrupt Republican and Democrat lawmakers the flimsy [...]

These days, everyone hates big tech, and that's often for very good reasons. You shouldn't trust giant centralized companies that have collected a ridiculous amount of data on you. There are few reasonable alternatives, so they can keep you stuck in their silos. They just move more and more rapidly along the enshittification curve, extracting [...]

[W]hether you call this coercion, if that's the label you attach, you call it encouragement, you call it promotion, you call it inducement, whatever it is, if the government is attempting to abridge the speech rights of a third party, that has to be unconstitutional because that falls within the plain text of the First [...]

Take your basic knowledge of cybersecurity to a whole new level with the Advanced Cyber Security bundle. This bundle offers you 6 courses on industry-standard certifications on cybersecurity so you can enjoy the wonders of modern tech without compromising your data and privacy. Courses cover CISA, CCSP, CISM, and CISSP certification prep. You'll also get [...]

Over the course of the last few years, it feels like the FTC & DOJ have slowly started getting better at figuring out how to craft a better antitrust lawsuit. The earliest attempts were often beyond silly, but the more recent cases (while far from perfect) have finally started alleging things that seem like potential [...]

Earlier this month the New York Timespublished a major storyconfirming that automakers collect driver behavior data then sell it to a long list of companies. That includes insurance companies, who are now jacking up insurance rates if they see behavior in the dataset they don't like. Theabsolute bare minimumyou could could expect from the auto [...]

Take-Two Interactive has already established itself as an IP bully. There are plenty of examples of this from the past several years, but my favorite remains the company's opposition of a trademark for Rockstar Axe Throwing merely because it had the name Rockstar" in it. No concern was given to how similar the logos and [...]

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who failed miserably in his run for president, signed a very controversial bill into law that requires age verification for porn websites and bans social media for minors under the age of 14. The act, House Bill (HB) 3, is one of the most restrictive laws of its kind to be [...]

Last year in September, we released a cross-post episode of Mike's appearance on the DWeb Decoded podcast with Danny O'Brien. If you listened to that episode, you know that Mike and Danny go way back, and Danny played an important role in the founding of Techdirt. This week, we've got the inverse counterpart to that [...]

There are a lot of elections worldwide, and these events invariably raise significant concerns regarding potential manipulation, particularly in light of emerging technologies such as generative AI. To help address these concerns, we are reintroducing our innovative election threatcasting" game, Threatcast 2024, which has been designed to help users anticipate and counteract such threats. In [...]

All you need is Google. That's how things have been going in the law enforcement world. If you don't know who you're looking for, just ask Google to do it for you. A variety of warrants that demand Google search its data stores for personal information (that might lead investigators to find potential suspects [who [...]

Embark on the journey of language learning with the Rosetta Stone lifetime subscription for all languages. Rosetta Stone has been the go-to software for language learning for the past 27 years. With its immersive and intuitive training method, you might be reading, writing, and speaking a new language with confidence in no time. It's on [...]

Right after Elon took over Twitter, we published what we had hoped would be a useful speed run" through the content moderation learning curve that most platforms figure out along the way. We've seen other free speech!" platforms learn these basic lessons, though not always quickly enough to survive. The basic idea is that no [...]

We've noted a few times now how the quest to ban TikTok is heavily peppered with bad faith actors who historically don't care about consumer privacy or national security. We've also noted how it's performative to hyperventilate about one single sometimes-dodgy app, but ignore the broader dysfunction and corruption (like our lack of a modern [...]

Well, that's the way it goes. Courts have been extremely reluctant to disrupt the long-term surveillance plans of law enforcement. If investigators can mount a camera on public property and keep it focused on areas visible by members of the public, no harm, no foul. Not every court has reached this same conclusion. Notably, one [...]

Welcome to the realm of the very, very stupid. There are a couple of purposes of trademark law. The first and most obvious of them is that they are used to make sure the public knows from whom or from where a particular good or service comes from. It's a measure to protect the public, [...]

Look, I'm nearing 50. I've been around. I have seen some absolute clown shit from politicians. I have witnessed years of things like bridges to nowhere" and self-aggrandizement taking the form of renamed airports or whatever. I have seen any number of candidates step into the arena with a headful of moronic ideas. But things [...]

Self-described free speech absolutist" Elon Musk has just had a judge slam him for trying to punish and suppress the speech of critics. Judge Charles Breyer did not hold back in his ruling dismissing Musk's utterly vexatious SLAPP suit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a [...]

Open up the libel laws!" the man who can't win consecutive elections (much less a defamation lawsuit) once proclaimed. The Republican Party (or at least its voting bloc) appears willing to give a man who's enjoyed nothing but unearned opportunities throughout his professional and governmental career yet another shot in 2024. But he's not going [...]

This Little Wonder Solo Stereo Multi Connect Bluetooth Speaker may look small, but it produces as clear and powerful a sound as any other speaker. It comes in a solid and metallic look that is great for any setting and decor at your home, office, pool, picnic spot, and more! Connect this speaker to your [...]

I know that some people, including Elon Musk recently, have claimed that trust & safety" is some sort of euphemism for censorship." That is not true, and has never been true. The role of trust & safety has always been about building trust in the platform and making sure that users feel safe on the [...]

Asthe Vice andMessenger collapsejust got done illustrating in glorious technicolor, the problem with online U.S. journalism isn'tthat it's inherently unprofitable. The problem is usually that the worst, least competent, shallowest people imaginable routinely fail upward into positions of management, then treat the brands they acquirelike disposable napkins. That's certainly been the case over at Sports [...]

This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is MrWilson, replying to another commenter who was bandying about the court rulings that erroneously agreed that Biden and the FBI violated the first amendment by coercing platforms: You mean a conservative think tank shopped for a favorite Trump-appointed judge known for his willingness to [...]

We're past the halfway mark in our series of spotlight posts looking at the winners of the sixth annual public domain game jam, Gaming Like It's 1928! We've already featured Best Visuals winner Flight from Podunk Station and Best Adaptation winner Mickey Party, and Best Remix winner The Burden Of Creation, and today we're taking [...]

Ah, the idea/expression dichotomy strikes again! It really is incredible just how many copyright lawsuits and disputes are launched due to the fundamental lack of understanding of this particular nuance of copyright law. As a very quick reminder: you cannot copyright an idea, but you can copyright specific expression. For example, you cannot copyright the [...]

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderations Ben Whitelaw. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice - or go straight to the RSS feed. In this week's online speech, content moderation and internet regulation [...]

They called themselves the Goon Squad." Six Mississippi deputies bestowed this name upon themselves, perhaps hoping to invoke the more violent era of the National Hockey League - an era overseen by enforcers" fueled by cocaine and testosterone who gave the home crowd what they wanted: blood on the ice in return for any perceived [...]

In January 2022, 77-year-old Ruby Johnson's house was raided by the Denver Police Department. Supposedly seeking a stolen vehicle and several guns, the SWAT team descended on Johnson's house. The officers ordered anyone inside to come out of the house. Johnson complied, but that didn't stop the SWAT team from attempting to destroy her house [...]

The Python and Django Web Development Bundle has 7 courses to help you learn how to build your own sites and apps. Courses cover the basics of Django and Python and then build upon those skills by having you create your own to do list app and user authentication app, and more. It's on sale [...]

Can you imagine what kind of world we'd live in if you could blame random media companies for tangential relationships they had with anyone who ever did anything bad? What would happen if we could blame newspapers for inspiring crime? Or television shows for inspiring terrorism? The world would be a much duller place. We've [...]

For decades, U.S. cable and broadband giants have advertised one price, then socked consumers with a much higher price once the bill actually arrives. This is usually accomplished via a bevy of bullshit below the line fees specifically built for the purpose. Like regulatory recovery fees," which ambiguously blame government for prices hikes due to [...]

The Devil, as they say, is in the details. It's a lesson that Warner Bros. apparently just recently had to learn after it poked the Australian Football League over its latest addition to the league, from the isle of Tasmania. You have probably already guessed where this is going. The AFL announced recently that the [...]

This took way too long, but it appears that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and the Judicial Conference have finally decided to crack down on the serious problem of judicial shopping in the federal courts. They've set a new policy that will hopefully result in a more random allocation of cases to judges. Jurisdiction [...]

With KOSA passed, the information i can access as a minor will be limited and censored, under the guise of protecting me", which is the responsibility of my parents, NOT the government. I have learned so much about the world and about myself through social media, and without the diverse world i have seen, i [...]

The UK government spent months trying to pass a bill named the Online Harms Act." As opposition mounted - mainly over the many ways the bill would undermine encryption - the UK government decided to rebrand the bill as the kinder sounding Online Safety Act." Who could be against Safety"? It seemed a bit too [...]

StackSkills is the premier online learning platform for mastering today's most in-demand skills. Now, with this exclusive limited-time offer, you'll gain access to 1000+ StackSkills courses for life! Whether you're looking to earn a promotion, make a career change, or pick up a side hustle to make some extra cash, StackSkills delivers engaging online courses [...]

I wrote a long post on Monday about the oral arguments in the Murthy v. Missouri case. I highlighted how skeptical most of the Justices seemed regarding the arguments from the states, especially given the extensive problems in the record, which multiple Justices picked up on. Most other legal expert commentators came to a similar [...]

Right to repair" reform (making it easier and more affordable to repair things you buy) is extremely popular among consumers across both sides of the aisle. It's obviously less popular among automakers, tractor builders, tech companies, and other corporations looking to monopolize repair and boost revenues by crushing independent repair shops under their bootheel. Said [...]

The war on video game mods that involve Pokemon continues! I can't say for sure that the Pokemon Company's renewed focus on taking down anything relating to these mods for 3rd party video games was kickstarted by the release of Palworld, sometimes pitched as Pokemon with guns", and a mod for the game that put [...]

The laziest court in the land has again decided it's not worth its time to undo another horrible decision issued by an appellate court that far too often feels the Fifth (Circuit) is superior to the First (Amendment). The nation's top court seems more motivated to take cases if it can curtail long-held rights. When [...]

Remember Richard Liebowitz? The lawyer who was not very good at his job but really dove deep into the world of copyright trolling? He was suspended from practicing law a few years ago, but now he's finally been officially disbarred. There are many, many Liebowitz stories out there. It's hard to beat the time he [...]

US Private Vaults is a private company, in multiple senses of the word. Despite the use of the acronym US," US Private Vaults is not a government entity. The service it offers aligns roughly with storage services federally insured banks offer: a secure place to hold valuables that is only accessible by those who have [...]

The Complete Cisco Training Bundle has 6 courses to help you get ready to become certified. Courses cover al you need to know as a CCNA, CCEA, and more. It's on sale for $40. Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. A portion of all sales from Techdirt Deals helps support [...]

We've been covering many stories about a potential TikTok ban, including how unconstitutional it clearly is, how pointless it clearly is, and how even those who back it don't seem to have a good explanation of why, beyond some vague handwaving about China." But, there's one thing that hasn't received nearly as much attention: people [...]

For decades, the FCC has maintained an arguably pathetic definition of broadband," allowing the telecom industry to under-deliver substandard access. After some industry lobbying to ensure it wasn't too stringent, the agency is finally getting around to an update, and has announced that they'll soon classify broadband" as anything faster than 100 Mbps downstream, 20 [...]