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This one is from a couple months ago, but I’m clearing out some older stories that I didn’t have the time to write up when they were new. For years, we’ve highlighted how the DMCA is regularly abused for a variety of purposes. Often it’s abused to try to take down content someone doesn’t like, […]

Back in 2017 the FCC tried to pass some very basic privacy protections for broadband access. The rules simply demanded transparency as to what kind of data your ISP collects and sells. They also mandated that the trafficking of sensitive financial data by telecoms require the opt in consent of consumers. Telecom giants like AT&T […]

Warrants that are short on things required by the Fourth Amendment — probable cause, specificity, the correct address, solid affidavits — are often given a free pass because law enforcement has plenty of options when it comes to sneaking around the edges of the Constitution. In some cases, the excuses are pretty much just this: […]

The folks behind the Grand Theft Auto franchise are certainly no strangers to lawsuits and complaints over publicity rights issues. GTA5 famously found the publishers of the game in court defending itself against the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Karen Gravano, ultimately winning both cases. Anyone familiar with the GTA franchise will have a sense […]

Back in May, Walled Culture wrote about an important case before the EU’s top court, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). It involved the “High Authority for the dissemination of works and the protection of rights on the Internet” (Haute Autorité pour la diffusion des œuvres et la protection des droits sur […]

A few weeks ago, publishing giant Penguin Random House (and, yes, I’m still confused why they didn’t call it Random Penguin House after the merger) announced that it was filing a lawsuit (along with many others) against the state of Iowa for its attempt to ban books in school libraries. In its announcement, Penguin Random […]

For years, Google has collected all the data it can about its users. And for years, it has utilized this data to… well, it depends on who you ask. For Google, it meant a whole lot of targeted advertising — something so valuable Google tended to collect the data even when it told users it […]

The Complete 2024 Microsoft Tech Certification Training Super Bundle has 11 courses focusing on Microsoft tech. It includes courses such as Microsoft 365 Identity & Services (MS-100), Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions (AZ-305), MD-100: Windows Client, AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies, Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104), and more. It’s on sale for $80. Note: The Techdirt […]

At this point, I really have to question the seriousness of anyone who claims that the evidence shows that social media is bad for kids. We’re now reaching a point where the research is increasingly overwhelmingly pointing in the other direction. I’ve posted it before, but I’ll post this list again: And we can go […]

Knoxville, Tennessee is making progress on an ambitious, $700 million plan to deliver $65 gigabit fiber connections to every last city resident. With no usage caps, weird fees, or long-term contracts. Once completed, the city-owned fiber network, run through the city’s existing city-owned electrical utility, will be the biggest community-owned broadband network in the U.S. […]

This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is Strawb with a response to someone claiming there’s no first amendment issue with Ken Paxton’s investigation into Media Matters: That’s because you don’t understand the first amendment, Koby. For those of us that do, there’s very much a violation going on here. In second […]

Five Years Ago This week in 2018, the Australian government passed a law forcing tech companies to break encryption, Hollywood and record labels were quietly asking congress to bring back SOPA, and the UK intelligence community said it was moving on from bulk data collection in favor of bulk equipment interference. The latest EU copyright […]

It’s that time… Get ready for the Gaming Like It’s 1928! public domain game jam! The game jam, like all our public domain game jams, runs from January 1st through January 31st, and we’re eager to see what kinds of games, both digital and analog, you’ll make by building on newly public domain works. As […]

While not super common, we have seen issues surrounding copyright claims or negative reactions to so-called “reaction videos.” These videos essentially take content that is out there, typically on the internet, and then react to them in a video providing either additional context for the content or a reaction to it. Sometimes those reaction videos […]

Traditional newspapers have been complaining about the rise of the digital world for decades. Their discontent derives from the fact that they failed to recognize opportunities early on, leaving the field open for a new generation of born-digital companies to meet the demand for alternative ways to access the news. Rather than trying to understand […]

Last month, Sports Illustrated found itself at the center of a firestorm after it was busted using fake computer-generated authors and (shitty) computer-generated content — without telling employees and readers. The scandal came shortly after Gannett (which likely owns whatever’s left of your hometown newspaper) was busted doing the exact same thing. We’ve noted how […]

The Italians are the new Israelis… at least in terms of hawking phone exploits and other spyware. NSO Group crashed hard following leaks showing its customers (many of which were, shall we say, questionable) were targeting political rivals, dissidents, human rights activists, journalists, lawyers, and religious leaders with powerful exploits that completely exposed the contents […]

The Complete Python Programmer Bundle has nine courses to help you learn more about programming. This bundle starts with fundamental Python functionality such as arithmetic, conditional statements, and working with basic data structures. It then expands upon your working knowledge of data structures to work with full-blown datasets in the Pandas package. You’ll learn all […]

It seems like the only “bipartisan” support around regulations and the internet these days is… over the false, widely debunked moral panic that the internet is inherently harmful to children. Study after study has said it’s simply not true. Here’s the latest list (and I have one more to write up soon): And yet, if […]

We just got done noting how 2023 was finally the year that streaming fully surpassed traditional TV in terms of overall paying subscribers. A very obvious “cord cutting” trend that executives spent years claiming was fake or a fad is now the majority norm. But what’s left of traditional cable TV isn’t doing so well.  Broadcast […]