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Comment Re:Code (Score 1) 46

Closed source binaries have companies who own the copyright and would sue the pants off of anyone who used this tool to try and "clean room" engineer a replacement. With open source there's not always a monolithic entity that can exercise copyright claims against an infringing party and perhaps generally less of a desire to do so even if the money and desire to pursue legal action were there.

The hope is that by targeting open source there's people infringing on the copyright of the authors will be able to get away with it more easily. For a lot of smaller projects that's probably true. The costs of litigating this aren't something a small project can afford.

Comment Specification (Score 1) 46

The Chinese Wall legal strategy is to have Team A produce a specification and Team B produce an implementation.

If these guys can't show a specification they're screwed.

Claiming there must have been one in abstract Platonic space inside the LLM network black box isn't going to convince a Court.

So do the work of making an actual specification generator. Then write a coder. It's not impossible. You still won't get updates, fixes, support, community, or features added. The guys who just steal ffmpeg won't even bother. The AGPL haters might bite.

Also, he seems quite angry.

Comment Re:Our infrastructure isn't ready for these anyway (Score 1) 46

Even worse, a lot of people prefer underground cables.

You'll have to run active cooling lines with those wires underground. And guess how often active cooling will fail, resulting in need to keep digging those cables up?

This is made worse by the "15 minute city" push which ensures that home charging is just not going to be a thing in any meaningful capacity.

Comment Re:This is the right direction (Score 1) 46

It's probably more about performance. That instant torque and one pedal driving makes a lot of otherwise normal drivers into awful drivers.

I've seen this happen with quite a few people. Man switches from normal car to Tesla, starts speeding. Because it just accelerates so damnably fast, and it feels good that it does.

"Tesla smile" is a meme for a reason.

Comment Re:Yep (Score 1) 46

When gas hits $10 there may be too much pressure to bring in BYD to stop it. At least atomic energy isn't more sensitive to global price shocks than it needs to be (EPA being the champion of high energy prices).

Automated lights-out factories are a total game changer and basically nobody cares if domestic auto workers lose their jobs due to sales collapse or to automation. It didn't have to be this way but Kissinger sold out Middle America so GM became a sales tactic for GMAC loans. We'd need a time machine to stop the collapse of the US auto industry at this point. Or a total fascist takeover of industry and crippling tariffs (not ruling this out).

Toyota and Datsun used to be shit brands fifty years ago. Now we have Lexus and Infinity. Heck we had those 20 years after they were shit brands.

But Tundra engines are getting famous now for lasting 6000 miles before blowing up, so perhaps the torch is being passed.

Comment Re:In other news (Score 0) 46

Yes, "to bring Jesus back".

They actually believe this. Like, you can spend money to get God to change his calendar.

We don't have to believe it - we only need to understand that they believe it. Red heifers, Gog and Magog, Third Temple, they jump up and down and speak in tongues when you talk about it.

Meanwhile Americans spend 60% of their wages on taxes and regulations and don't complain. They vote for anti-war, anti-spending candidates and get the shaft after elections. $10 gas might actually change things.

Comment Re:This is the right direction (Score 1) 46

>Now how about finding a way to do it with silicon-based rather than lithium-based batteries so that we're not using costly mines to create the batteries?

Why silicon rather than sodium?

Sodium is right under lithium in Group 1.

>> The company also announced plans to begin mass delivery of sodium-ion batteries in the fourth quarter. Sodium-ion technology is seen as a lower-cost alternative that could reduce dependence on lithium, cobalt, and nickel.

Comment Re: Identify != Fix (Score 1) 122

> Is it appropriate to cite the old proverb, "Physician, heal thyself" here?

Years before the physician was a fentanyl addict living in a cardboard box on the street you would have been compassionate to do so.

At some point you just can't help people who don't want to be helped.

It's sad because the physician was once a happy baby who gave his mother delight. So much waste of care and resources.

Comment Re:It's a UFO story (Score 1) 77

Most likely a combination of domestic problems, mental health issues (maybe*), random violence and a few anti-technology Ted Kaczynskis running around.

Most people with high level security clearances are watched by counter intelligence. Not always because they are untrustworthy, but they are targets for blackmail. Dead scientists do foreign adversaries no good. Same for missing scientists. They are best kept at their job, copying stuff.

*Mental health? Counter intel does make use of behavioral analysis resources. As one person there put it, they don't want another Jonathan Pollard slipping through.

Comment Precedents have been set decades ago (Score -1) 96

It would be a problematic precedent if there were criminal liability

Here is a list of examples from the pre-AI era kindly put together for me by Claude... With the prosecuting attorneys' party-affiliations, because BeauHD felt it is important:

United States v. Google Inc. — Non-Prosecution Agreement (D.R.I. 2011)
Platform: Google (search/advertising)
Allegation: The DOJ's Office of Criminal Investigations (working with the FDA) investigated Google for knowingly allowing unlicensed Canadian online pharmacies to advertise prescription drugs and controlled substances to US consumers via its AdWords program since at least 2003. Google reportedly helped these advertisers optimize their illegal ads. The investigation was triggered when a cooperating fugitive revealed his use of AdWords to run illegal pharmaceutical sales.
Outcome: Google entered a Non-Prosecution Agreement and forfeited $500 million — one of the largest such forfeitures in US history. The lead prosecutor stated publicly that "Larry Page knew what was going on." No criminal charges were filed against individuals. Google was treated as an aider and abettor of illegal drug importation.
Prosecuting attorney: Peter F. Neronha, US Attorney, District of Rhode Island — Democrat (Obama appointee).
State of South Carolina — Criminal Threat Against Craigslist (2009)
Platform: Craigslist
Allegation: South Carolina AG Henry McMaster sent a formal letter to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster threatening criminal prosecution under state law for knowingly allowing the site to be used to solicit prostitution, following a series of high-profile crimes linked to Craigslist's Erotic Services section (including the "Craigslist Killer" murders).
Outcome: Craigslist sued McMaster preemptively; a South Carolina federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the threatened prosecution on Section 230 grounds. No criminal charges were filed. Craigslist eventually shut down its Erotic Services section nationally in September 2010.
Prosecuting attorney: Henry McMaster, Attorney General of South Carolina — Republican.
Multistate AG Coalition Criminal Pressure Campaign Against Craigslist (2009–2010)
Platform: Craigslist
Allegation: Following McMaster's lead, attorneys general from over 40 states issued coordinated demands threatening criminal prosecution of Craigslist executives for facilitating prostitution and sex trafficking through the Erotic Services section. The pressure intensified after the "Craigslist Killer" murders of Philip Markoff.
Outcome: No criminal charges were filed against Craigslist or its executives. Craigslist closed the Adult Services section in 2010 under sustained pressure, and in 2012 Illinois AG Lisa Madigan's office and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart continued applying pressure. The campaign showed the limits of criminal threats constrained by Section 230.
Prosecuting attorneys: Multiple state AGs of both parties — notably McMaster (Republican, SC); Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, CT); Tom Miller (Democrat, IA); Roy Cooper (Democrat, NC); Lisa Madigan (Democrat, IL). Mixed partisan coalition.
People of California v. Carl Ferrer / Backpage (California, 2016)
Platform: Backpage
Allegation: California AG Kamala Harris obtained a criminal arrest warrant for Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer on three counts of pimping and conspiracy to commit pimping, alleging the platform knowingly profited from sex trafficking.
Outcome: Ferrer was arrested in Texas. The California pimping charges were twice dismissed by a Sacramento judge who ruled Section 230 barred the state prosecution. The case was later superseded by the federal Backpage indictment.
Prosecuting attorney: Kamala Harris, Attorney General of California — Democrat.
United States v. Michael Lacey et al. / Backpage (D. Ariz. 2018)
Platform: Backpage
Allegation: Federal grand jury indicted seven Backpage executives on 93 counts including conspiracy to facilitate prostitution using an interstate facility, and multiple money laundering charges. The indictment alleged Backpage knowingly hosted and edited sex trafficking ads and stripped identifying information ("Lolita," "new to town") from ads to obscure their illegal nature.
Outcome: The FBI seized Backpage.com. CEO Carl Ferrer pleaded guilty, acknowledging most adult ads were for prostitution. The trial of remaining defendants ended in a 2021 mistrial after prosecutorial misconduct. Retrial proceedings are ongoing. This is the most fully realized criminal prosecution of a major internet platform for facilitating crime in US history.
Prosecuting attorneys: Elizabeth A. Strange, Acting US Attorney, District of Arizona — Republican (Trump appointee). Jeff Sessions, AG — Republican.
State v. Drew — Missouri State Investigation and Lori Drew (2008)
Platform: MySpace (secondary target)
Allegation: After the Megan Meier suicide, Missouri authorities investigated whether to bring criminal charges under Missouri statutes. The local DA's office in St. Charles County declined to charge Drew, finding no applicable Missouri law. The case exposed a statutory gap that prompted new cyberbullying laws nationwide. MySpace was subpoenaed and cooperated.
Outcome: No Missouri state charges filed against Drew or MySpace. Led directly to federal prosecution (see above) and to Missouri and over 40 other states enacting criminal cyberbullying statutes.
Prosecuting attorney: Jack Banas, St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney — Republican. Declined to prosecute.

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