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Comment Re:One big lawsuit waiting to happen (Score 1) 468

There's a lot of whistling in the dark here. And several straw (wo)man ("that can harm", "might fall victim", "if...pass through the mail").

First off, IANAL.

These devices would be unlikely to be considered man-traps in any way. For it to be a trap, it needs to physically, well, trap a man (or woman). I would think this falls more into the booby-trap category, but even that requires a ridiculous amount of squinting.

Even if we stick with the man-trap theory, some basic research leads me to believe that only man-traps that cause injury or death are illegal from a criminal perspective. This device does not cause injury or death, only embarrassment. Even if the (alleged) thief dropped dead from surprise, there is unlikely to be a DA in the country who would spend five minutes contemplating charges. And good luck seating a jury that wouldn't laugh the case out of the room.

Which leaves civil. While one of the people who removed the device from his property could try suing him in civil court, what exact damages would they be trying to recover? The cost of cleaning up the glitter? Being deprived of the value of what they thought they were stealing? An attorney who tried to bring this case might want to consider the strong possibility of sanctions for pursuing frivolous claims with no basis in law or fact.

Filing such a suit would also probably attract the attention of the local DA who generally won't appreciate the (alleged) thief trying to game the system. And with all the evidence already in hand (multiple video, audio, location tracking), it seems like it would a slam dunk for the DA to secure a criminal conviction. Which would almost certainly sink any civil suit filed.

The (alleged) thief could potentially expose themselves to a civil suit themselves, and depending on jurisdiction, this case could have actual teeth and real risk for the (alleged) thief.

If, as you say, our NASA Engineer here has committed a crime, he has posted that fact publically, with video and audio evidence for the world to see (15M views and counting). However, as much hand waving you want to do about the rights of (alleged) thieves and the possible liability that he might face, here is the simple proof he hasn't committed a crime in the eyes of the law:

The (alleged) thieves don't get to press charges only DA's do. The simple fact is that no DA has charged him with anything and none will. There have been and will be no civil suits filed because there is no basis for one, and any idiot coming forward to file one is exposing themselves to enormous amount of exposure to themselves on both the criminal and civil side.

Comment Re:You can always tell who are the kooks... (Score 1) 263

I think it's a lot simpler than that: Kooks tend to cluster, and in those clusters, they tend to create these self-reinforcing narratives marrying kooky theory + conspiracy to themselves. I'm sure they could create a cut/paste manual, or build a bot, but their real joy is cleary in banging out these breathless "if you only knew" posts. Page after page, paragraph after paragraph, word by word.

Not sure why. The gullible are already in the cult. And outside of using them as an excuse to murder more words, they aren't really interested in converts. After all, if everyone agreed with them, then there isn't the conspiracy anymore. No, winning for them is when you engage them.

Comment You can always tell who are the kooks... (Score 1) 263

They're the ones who will murder thousands and thousands of words that say nothing in response to even the mildest rebuttal of whatever crackpot theory they're espousing. Every post must be answered with pages and pages of more kookery. Such a passionate defense of nothing. Every rebuttal just entrenches the person further. Bad theories stacked over and over that ignore existing or hand-wave away theories that are supported with, well, actual data. When called on it, there's always an underlying conspiracy (which is just more mangled and badly stapled together crack-pottery). The one truth here is that the kooks will never, ever, ever stop. You're not having a conversation with them, you're simply providing the one thing they need: continuing validation that they are being oppressed and that the vast conspiracy continues. Any new arguments will just be countered with their ever-growing "FAQ" on canned rebuttals hand-waving away reality. Stop oppressing the troll. You can do so by ignoring him.

Comment Re:Be still my heart ! (Score 1) 149

I thought that the DOJ anti-trust division had all been frozen in carbonite. Now, it appears that they are awake and may actually do some good. When they are done with this, there is a certain search engine they might want to look at...

Don't worry - It'll get strung out till the new administration drops the case because it isn't business friendly.

Privacy

Blizzard Rolls Out Real ID Privacy Options 145

tacarat writes "The last time Blizzard mentioned their new Real ID system, there was a strong backlash from users over privacy issues. Blizzard reconsidered their plans to require real names for forums, and little has been heard about it since. Now, they've announced new privacy settings, allowing users to limit how their name gets shared or to disable the system entirely. Quoting: 'These options provide Real ID users with additional tools for customizing the service based on their preferences, enabling the ability to opt in or out of the Real ID "Friends of Friends" and "Add Facebook Friends" features or to turn off Real ID altogether.'"

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