Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is PaulT with a comment about just one of the many problematic details about the DoNotPay “AI lawyer”:
“Josh added a clause to the TOS prohibiting users from testing the website prior to using it in a live dispute.”
Because if there’s anything a software developer will tell you, it’s shove everything into production, no need for test/QA environments!
Sadly, that’s not completely sarcastic, I’ve known devs who did that. Note the past tense there…
In second place, it’s Terry with a comment on our post about how the Friedman doctrine of exclusively serving shareholder interests ruins everything:
Enshittification
There’s a traditional tale that sums it up. Think killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. The actual story perfectly describes the process described in the articles.
For editor’s choice on the insightful side, we start out with a comment from That Anonymous Coward about the dumb attack on Gigi Sohn that tries to shame her for being on the EFF’s board:
Someone please get a list of all the Baptists in Congress.
I want to launch an expose about how they support a group that covered up child abuse for decades…
scary thing is mine is way more true than theirs.
Next, it’s That One Guy with a comment about Elon Musk pulling down a documentary at the behest of India’s government:
Well that’s awkward…
Gotta love the contrast with the Twitter Files ‘scandal’. There the government merely notifying the platform of potential TOS violations was spun as a heinous attack on free speech, and yet now Twitter is folding like wet cardboard and taking down speech at a government’s behest.
Given the difference in response it would seem that if the FBI had actually ordered accounts to be pulled that would have been the proper response and spiked that part of the ‘scandal’ since after all it’s not like a platform can or should fight back against such demands, so I guess from now on the FBI or other government agencies shouldn’t nudge Twitter in the direction of TOS violations they should just tell Twitter to pull any account they don’t like and that’ll nicely solve the problem.
Over on the funny side, our first place winner is Stephen T. Stone passing along a Twitter joke in response to the GOP whining about DirecTV kicking Newsmax off its lineup:
Cool, I get to use this again.
Conservatives: LET THE FREE MARKET DECIDE
Free market: decides
Conservatives: this is outRAGEOUS(All credit to Twitter user @nhbaptiste.)
In second place, it’s Rico R. with another comment about the attack on Gigi Sohn:
Congratulations, Fox “News”!
Before these “news” organizations reported that Gigi Sohn is on the board of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, I had no idea that was the case. Now, I want Sohn confirmed to the FCC even more! That was your intent, right?
For editor’s choice on the funny side, we start out with a comment from Thad invoking a famous movie monologue in response to the unequivocal smackdown that Trump’s lawyers received from the court over their claims that Hillary Clinton rigged the election:
The judge continued, “I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
Finally, it’s Dan Izzo with one more comment about DoNotPay:
Well if I’m ever sued I definitely want DoNotPay repping the other guy.
That’s all for this week, folks!