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.

After claude found the issues, humans could check and fix them

Claude can do the fixing too, just as easily, in most cases. Maybe, Mythos cannot — never tried it — but Opus or even Sonnet certainly can.

I'm going to assume you're not aware of the incontrovertible evidence done by John Bray and others proving that the "ballistic tests were inconclusive" is hardly the tip of the iceberg. It's conclusive that the 'lone shooter' narrative is false, and almost certain that a rapidly expanding explosive like PETN was involved (lapel mic). There's nothing else which fits the mutually supportive analysis work that's been done.

Nah, I just have a long horizon on my memory. "Wait a second, this contradicts what the media was just saying!" And then I look into it myself. It doesn't take speculation when there's readily available evidence to refute media claims, made by the media themselves.

The media narrative on both masking during covid, and subsequently the narrative shift over the Ukraine conflicts, are perfect examples.

Masking: masking isn't necessary; no wait, only doctors should mask; masks don't actually help; masking is good for you, actually.

Ukraine: Ukrainians are actual Nazis (2013); Ukraine overthrown by the US government; Ukraine is now, somehow, not Nazis; Ukrainians are the good guys, actually, and we have to support them against Russia

(You can do the same narrative progression to sway concensus for COVID lab genesis, the Epstein files, or any of the other things I mentioned. They'll deny it, then switch course slowly as it's acceptable and people grow fatigued. It's plain as day to anyone with the mental horizon of more than 2 weeks.

I'd argue both major political parties (and then some), yes.

Those pamphlets are nice, my state does something similar. It's problematic, however, when both sides are lying outright and it's hard to split the difference without looking at the actual bills/amendments/provisions. That seems often to be the case. It's also common for "one side"s rebuttal is actually the other side's strawman rebuttal, which may or may not be due to either malice or intellectual deficiency.

Rating the truth as "troll?" Wow. really classy.

Perhaps a bit conspiratorial, but given all of Trump's other betrayals in the past couple months, this can't help but seem like it was initially planned this way: do something that makes life hard, which will make life harder in a couple months when all the other cards start to drop.

Kilmer was an absolute beast when it came to diverse characters. They were all distinct and different, a true method actor.

Acting is just as much art as any other kind of art. I don't have a problem with AI actors, but I do have a problem with an actor who's got a significant body of (good) work licensing their likeness (assuming that's what happened) for AI: it cheapens the earlier work.

Most computers didn't have scsi at the time. This was before USB so Parallel port it was. And on those days most people had parallel port printers. So you plugged the printer into the zip drive. I can't remember what the limitations where. I'm sure you couldn't print at the same time as accessing the drive. Linux even supported it.

Sure but those bad people are democrats, or probably illegals anyway though. If they are US citizens they really shouldn't be. Seriously voter fraud in the US is very easy to define. Any vote that's not for a republican (Trump really) is fraudulent. And those casting such contrary votes are illegal aliens. Because we all know that true Americans vote Trump. It's that simple.

As for our kind of people, we wouldn't want a true patriot's freedom to organize an insurrection to be infringed on with domestic spying.

If cars are basically just phones now, they should at least provide a factory reset button!

Arguably, it's the "news' which got us into this quagmire in the first place.

I can't possibly imagine why anyone would ascribe their "truth" from organizations which have consistently and intentionally lied to the American public. Hubris, I suppose.

I realize you're likely approaching retirement age based on your low slashdot ID (as am I), but the world has not only changed - it's made it apparent that the world we grew up in didn't even exist.

Perhaps you should look into the involvement of various intelligence agencies (CIA, Mossad) in the control and manipulation of various esteemed "institutions of truth" like the New York Times, as it relates to things which were obviously false. Or how many of our vanguard institutions were largely subverted by communist interests.

Babies in incubators, remember that one? How about WMDs in Iraq? Jayson Blair scandal is also notable - and let's not forget the complete fabrication which was Russiagate, paraded by media for months without so much as a verification of fact (which, if had they done it with honesty, would've made the whole thing fall apart). We could go way back, to how they (the NYT) suppressed news of the Soviets were in fact not starving their peasants in the 1920s and 1930s so that we would go to war, or we could dial it forward and the 2020s when the media provided years of cover for the "Chinese biolab" genesis of COVID-19 (which has since been acknowledged). We could also most certainly include the official Charlie Kirk narrative, which the media continues to parrot (when it's mentioned at all), and which has been scientifically confirmed as impossible by numerous forensic investigators (largely based on audio recording).

This is just the NYT, mind you - the broader media establishment is just as culpable. Establishment media has long shied away from truthful reporting, instead pushing sensationalism and ideological alignment.

Online news allows people who care about truth to get ahead of these narratives and see them for what they are, or at the very least consider alternative possibilities, before the lies catapult us into wars and ideological witch hunts.

I suppose you still think Oswald was the lone gunman, too, huh?

And yet their humorous take on the news was very much appreciated. I count myself among those who once considered themselves well informed, and I was a regularly Daily Show viewer. I also loved the various Canadian comedies over the years such as Double Exposure, Royal Canadian Air Farce, etc. And I still listen to BBC's the News Quiz when it is available. And Dead Ringers.

You can think what you like about comedians, but humor is always a good thing and the ability to poke fun at everyone (left and right) brings more balance to the news than a lot of news sources out there.

Humor is very much missing from public discourse these days, especially among the current crop of right-wing politicians. I judge a person on their sense of humor. The ability to not take one's self so seriously is as important as the ability to think critically. A genuine warmth of character. I remember back during the Bush days although he was a polarizing figure, he had a personal warmth that is completely gone today. He could even make fun of his own (many) gaffes.

These characteristics are completely missing in the present administration but are present among some of our more "liberal" entertainers. Hence I listen to them, and more often than not I learn from them, even if my personal views differ greatly from theirs.