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Five Years Ago
This week in 2019, the government hit whistleblower David Hale with espionage charges. All four major wireless carriers were hit with lawsuits over sharing location data, while employees of AT...
It’s a funny thing what game publishers sometimes try to do when it comes to releasing games early to internet streamers as a way to boost interest in their games. I’ve heard stories of all kinds of crazy stipulations that streamers have to sign off on contractually in order to get access to the game. They can only show certain parts of the game, or they can only play so far into it, or they have...
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw.
Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed.
In this week’s round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben...
Every cop with a dog swears it can detect all sorts of contraband. Literally swears. In court. On the stand.
But are drug dogs miraculous wonders of law enforcement due to their training? Or is it due to the domesticated dog’s innate desire to please, especially when it knows it will be rewarded for doing the thing? Or is it simply responding to cues delivered by its handler, some of which may...
Give people ways to share images and videos with each other, and people will quickly push the limits. It’s what people do.
There’s been a slightly amusing story making the rounds these past few days: a digital “video portal” was set up to allow people in New York and Dublin to communicate with each other. And people… did exactly what you’d expect some people to do when given a spot to, um,...
Sole source contracting is the sort of thing government agencies should seek to avoid. In some cases, it’s impossible, but most spending should be open to bidding to help ensure the government isn’t spending more than it has to — or worse, hooking up contractor buddies Mob-style.
There’s a whiff of impropriety in all of this, but it may be imaginary. However, it’s still worth examining more...
You probably already know the benefits of learning a language, so let’s focus on the app. Right off the bat, let’s be clear about one thing: When we say “app” we don’t mean that you’re limited to using Babbel on your phone. You can use Babbel on desktop, too, and your progress is synchronized across devices. Want to practice where you won’t have Wi-Fi? Download lessons before you head out, and...
You’ve all heard the reports about how the internet, social media, and phones are apparently destroying everyone’s well being and mental health. Hell there’s a best selling book and its author making the rounds basically everywhere, insisting that the internet and phones are literally “rewiring” kids minds to be depressed. We’ve pointed out over and over again that the research does not appear to...
For decades now, U.S. wireless carriers have sold consumers “unlimited data” plans that actually have all manner of sometimes hidden throttling, caps, and restrictions. And every few years a regulator comes out with a wrist slap against wireless carriers for misleading consumers, for whatever good it does.
Back in 2007, for example, then NY AG Andrew Cuomo fined Verizon a tiny $150,000 for...
Way back in 2009, we discussed a very impressive fan film called The Hunt for Gollum. While the film was made by dedicated fans of the Lord of the Rings films and was non-commercial in nature, we openly speculated both what the copyright implications of the film and whether there would be any risk of a takedown or lawsuit over it. We noted at the time that that seemed unlikely, given that the...