Techdirt

Do not go gentle into that mass surveillance night, as the phrase goes. The EU Commission is sure something needs to be done about the sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). And it's not wrong! Things need to be done. But these are not the things. While the spread of CSAM is definitely something [...]

Mozilla's latest *Privacy Not Included report isn't subtle when it comes to calling out the shortcomings of modern, internet-connected vehicles: All 25 car brands we researched earned our *Privacy Not Included warning label - making cars the official worst category of products for privacy that we have ever reviewed. After studying vehicle systems for over [...]

Of all the things in the gaming industry that annoy me, exclusivity deals have to rank near the very top. The idea that any title, but in particular third-party titles, could be exclusive to certain platforms, such as Xbox or PlayStation, is anathema to how art and culture distribution is meant to work. I understand [...]

Earlier this year the White House put out a document articulating a National Cybersecurity Strategy. It articulates five pillars," or high-level focus areas where the government should concentrate its efforts to strengthen the nation's resilience and defense against cyberattacks: (1) Defend Critical Infrastructure, (2) Disrupt and Dismantle Threat Actors, (3) Shape Market Forces to Drive [...]

We've covered the quixotic campaign of Stephen Thaler, who has filed lawsuits around the world arguing that he deserves to get copyrights and patents on writings and inventions created by DABUS, which Thaler claims is an AI that he created. He's lost nearly every case as he attempts to do so, often embarrassingly, including one [...]

For someone who's a lawyer, a former prosecutor, a former mayor, and a former presidential confidant, Rudy Giuliani sure doesn't seem to know his way around a lawsuit. It's perhaps that last thing on that list that's gotten him in the most trouble. Rather than recognize the peaceful transition of power that followed the 2020 [...]

uTalk can help you start speaking like a native within minutes. Using the uTalk learning App you can listen to real native speakers to help you navigate through your next vacation or business trip. With more than 2,500 words and phrases to learn in each of our 150+ languages, the app gives you a running [...]

It still amazes me that KOSA has any Democratic co-sponsors, let alone 21 Democratic co-sponsors in the Senate led by lead Democratic sponsor (and embracer of any bill that will undermine the internet it it lets him ignorantly grandstand about how terrible the internet is), Senator Richard Blumenthal. This includes some big names who purport [...]

For the last decade or so, U.S. cable TV customers have been plagued by a steady parade of content blackouts as cable providers and broadcasters bicker over new programming contracts. For the end user, so-called retransmission feuds" usually go something like this: a broadcaster demands a cable company pay significantly more money to carry the [...]

Never let it be said the NYPD doesn't know how to have a good time. The question remains as to whether it's possible for the NYPD to allow others to have a good time. The NYPD has always been in the business of acquiring the latest in law enforcement tech. The arrival of easily affordable [...]

Shocking the conscience. That's the legal term for government actions that are so far from acceptable no one, not even cop-friendly courts, can deem them acceptable. A small Kansas PD - the one presiding over the town of Marion - managed to shock the national conscience by raiding the office of the Marion County Record, [...]

We've got a another cross-post episode for you this week, on a subject near and dear to our hearts: protocols over platforms, and restoring decentralization online. Mike recently joined Danny O'Brien on the DWeb Decoded podcast to talk all about these topics, as well as tell a little story about Danny's role in the founding [...]

After years of irritating the DOJ with its refusal to compromise encryption, Apple suddenly went the other way after receiving criticism over its perceived inability to stop the distribution of CSAM (child sexual abuse material) via its devices and services. For a very brief moment, Apple decided it would no longer be a world leader [...]

Not this shit again. A month ago, free speech absolutist" Elon Musk sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) in an obvious SLAPP suit. As we said at the time, CCDH is, generally speaking, not a great organization. Their methodology is awful, and their reports are often silly. But they have a free speech [...]

The HomeSpot Rugged Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker was built to keep up with your adventures. It deflects dust, dirt, and water - and is coated with a rubberized surface that you'll feel comfortable bringing camping, rafting, and beyond. Best of all, this speaker truly delivers powerful sound that will fill even outdoor spaces with impressive audio. [...]

I know that we've already pointed to a whole bunch of studies, using a variety of different methods that all show no evidence of any link at all between social media and teen depression, but it's time to highlight another one. I mean, we just interviewed Professor Andy Przybylski, who published a study showing no [...]

In 2017 the Wisconsin GOP, with Donald Trump and Paul Ryan at the head of the parade, struck what they claimed was an incredible deal with Foxconn to bring thousands of high paying jobs to the state. The project, which Trump dubbed the the eighth wonder of the world," provided the former president with several [...]

This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is a simple anonymous comment about porn addiction": Funny, porn is addictive is a line pushed by religious fascists who wish to tell everybody what is good or bad based on a book that has its fair share of porn. In second place, it's Stephen [...]

Five Years Ago This week in 2018, a security flaw at Charter Spectrum exposed the private data of millions of subscribers, while Big Telecom was trying out new tactics in its fight against net neutrality in California. An appeals court ruled that forcing someone to unlock their phone violates the fifth amendment, while another ruled [...]

If you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide, right? That's what law enforcement and surveillance agencies tell us, coaxing us into letting our guard down so they can dig into our stuff without worrying about little things like probable cause. Cops like to do their work without creating narratives they can't challenge. Hence [...]

There may come a time when journalists around the world are left to point at massive datacenters housing AI journo-bots that have perfectly replicated what human journalists can do, screaming Dey took er jerbs!" like a South Park episode, but today is not that day. And frankly, it doesn't feel particularly close to being that [...]

You may have noticed that there's a massive, bipartisan push afoot to pass right to repair" laws in many states making it easier and cheaper to repair the things you buy. In a bid to undermine those laws, automakers and companies like John Deere have been using a fairly consistent playbook. One, they'll lie about [...]

For years we've covered the silly triennial review process associated with Section 1201 of the DMCA. If you don't know, Section 1201 is the part that makes circumvention of any technological measures" a form of infringement, even if bypassing those technological measures is not for copyright infringing reasons. It's actually even worse than that, because [...]

Censorship is a priority for prison systems. Despite publicly claiming to be instrumental in the act of rehabilitation," correctional facilities generally engage in the sort of non-productive paranoia that ensures the only resources prisoners have are... other prisoners. And we're all supposed to act like it's a surprise when people re-offend. Or worse, exit this [...]

The 2023 Technology Professional Bundle has 9 courses to teach you about becoming an information systems security professional. This bundle is designed for those interested in learning the basics of information systems security, including but not limited to security and risk management, asset management, security architecture and engineering, communication and network security, and more. It's [...]

Just after a judge granted an injunction against Texas' adult content age verification law on 1st Amendment grounds, a judge in Arkansas did the same to that state's social media age verification law. Trade organization NetChoice had challenged the law, and the court basically gave them a complete and total victory. Just like the ruling [...]

We've noted for years how there's no limit of companies and organizations that over-collect data on your daily movement patterns, then fail to adequately secure that data. Whether it's your mobile phone carrier, your smartphone maker, your favorite app, or a rotating crop of dodgy data brokers, our corrupt failure to pass even a baseline [...]

Given enough time and attention, informal parlance just becomes... parlance. And so it is for the Kansas State Police. For years, troopers have evaded the Constitution and applicable Supreme Court decisions to make the Fourth Amendment irrelevant. There's a term for this: Kansas two step." Enough drivers have encountered it that it is no longer [...]

A Texas federal district judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of a controversial age verification law set to enter force September 1. The court determined that House Bill (HB) 1181 was overly broad, even in the narrowest interpretations, and violated the First Amendment and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. [...]

One down, many more to go. We've been talking a lot by the rush of states to push for age verification laws all over the world, despite basically every expert noting that age verification technology is inherently a problem for privacy and security, and the laws mandating it are terrible. So far, it seems that [...]

Back in May of this year, the USPTO put out a request for public comments from interested parties in how to modernize its policies and/or copyright law to combat counterfeiting and online piracy. The world's easiest prediction would have been that the copyright industries would request more stringent copyright rules and heavier and faster policing [...]

In the past I've sometimes described Australia as the land where internet policy is completely upside down. Rather than having a system that protects intermediaries from liability for third party content, Australia went the opposite direction. Rather than recognizing that a search engine merely links to content and isn't responsible for the content at those [...]

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 [...]

We have covered the Protecting Kids On Social Media Act a few times, when it was first introduced back in April, where we highlighted how it was both unconstitutional and the rationale behind it was not supported by any actual evidence, and then again just recently when Senator Chris Murphy (one of the bill's co-sponsors) [...]

Of all the things we cover here at Techdirt, content producers going legal on pure fan-made productions that amount to fans expressing their fandom will always be the most befuddling for me. All the more so when it comes to content that was essentially kept alive by this same sort of fan-made work. Take the [...]

Last July,we noted howmedia reform activists had petitioned the FCC to revoke Fox News' local broadcast license in Philadelphia. More specifically, the group argued that Fox News' rampant election fraud propaganda technically violated the character clause" embedded in the Communications Act the FCC is supposed to use to determine whether an organization should hold a [...]

The states have gone rogue. In the last year alone, at least nine states enacted internet censorship laws. And more legislators are promising to take up the cause. But these laws are directly at odds with the First Amendment's command that the government shall not abridge the freedom of speech. Undeterred, states passed laws restricting [...]

Cops and cop tech providers like to pretend the things they use and the things they do are so black ops the public should not be allowed to discuss them with anyone, much less the defendants, judges, and juries being asked to weigh evidence and render verdicts in criminal trials. A lot of supposedly secret [...]

Capable of removing up to 10 times more plaque than a traditional brush, the AquaSonic Black Series Toothbrush gives your pearly whites the TLC they deserve. This high-end brush allows you to customize your brushing experience with soft, whiten, massage, and cleaning modes. Plus, the 40,000 VPM motor provides a deep clean while dissolving stains [...]

We need a federal anti-SLAPP law and strong state anti-SLAPP laws in all 50 states. And we need that as soon as possible. Anti-SLAPP/free speech law may not be as sexy these days as antitrust law, but, well, law shouldn't be particularly sexy. Or involve much sex at all. Joshua Wright apparently felt otherwise. Over [...]

Former T-Mobile CEO John Legererepeatedly promised in printthat the Sprint merger would result in amassivesurge in new jobs. In a rambling missive that took aim at deal critics predicting job losses, the charming, potty-mouthed ex-CEO proclaimed that critics were lying, and that the deal would be job positive from day one" and every day thereafter. [...]

I swear, with some of the trademark stories we cover, it ends up feeling like we should have Yakety Sax playing on loop in the background for the readers. That's certainly my sense when it comes to The Day Befores trademark struggles as of late. Where to start? Well, let's start with the basics: is [...]

The government's preference for geofence (a.k.a. reverse") is well known. There have been enough cases and enough litigation in recent years to demonstrably show the government will go to data havens when searching for suspects rather than engage in in-person investigative work. Why canvass a neighborhood for potential suspects when you can ask Google to [...]

Social media isn't the first phenomenon to spark a moral panic about its impact on people's (and especially young people's) mental health, and it surely won't be the last - but for now, it's the star of the show. A lot of people will gladly latch on to, and casually misrepresent, any research that might [...]

We've talked a lot about questions regarding AI and copyright over the last few years, highlighting repeatedly that AI-created works cannot be covered by copyrights. No matter how many times we've pointed this out, some are still trying, and it was nice to see yet another court (not the first) again say that AI-created works [...]

Law enforcement officers just don't seem to have a sense of humor. Sure, they may laugh when they beat, humiliate, or otherwise violates citizens' rights, but they can't seem to take a joke when it's pointed in their direction. Not being able to recognize an obvious joke has ensured two members of the Rapides Parish [...]

Design Wizard is an easy-to-use graphic design software that will add magic to your marketing and put the sparkle in your social media. With its features, you can magically resize your designs, upload your fonts, photos, logos, and create custom color palettes. Its library has over 1 million premium images, illustrations, graphics, and more.It's on [...]

What, Elon Musk is a hypocrite? Who knew? You may recall that last year, after directly promising that he'd leave up the ElonJet account, which reveals public information regarding the flights of Elon Musk's private plane, he changed his mind and banned it, along with any reporter who even mentioned the existence of the account [...]

Eager to maintain a lucrative repair monopoly over its products, Apple has had a long history of bullying independent repair shops. Apple lobbyists have also falsely claimed that making its products easier and less expensive to repair would result in vast untold consumer privacy and security nightmares, turning states that consider right to reform" legislation [...]