“
We can take some credit for the fact that Article 6 [of the Paris agreement] is even there at all,” he said.
Source: Shell Executive Boasts About Influencing the Paris Agreement
Category: Human stupidity
IFPI Slams Pirate MEP For ‘Lobbying’ Kids, Forgets a Decade of Rightsholders Doing Just That – TorrentFreak
Yet another war of words on Twitter over Article 13 has delivered one of the great ironies of recent times. After Pirate MEP Julia Reda called on kids to ‘lobby’ their parents over the controversial legislation, she got a “shame on you” from IFPI for “manipulating minors”. Trouble is, the entertainment industries have been doing the same for well over a decade.
Monster Energy Loses Trademark Opposition Against UK Drink Company, But May Have Bullied It To Death Anyway | Techdirt
Dan Smith, from Newbury, created healthy drinks company Thirsty Beasts in 2018, and the US firm filed a legal challenge against him.It claimed customers would confuse both Mr Smith’s slogan – “Rehab the beast” – with its “Unleash the beast” line. The case, which was dismissed, cost Mr Smith more than £30,000 in legal fees. He said he and his wife had ploughed every penny they had into launching the business. After registering his first trademark in the UK in 2016, Mr Smith then filed the Thirsty Beasts logo. Billion-dollar company Monster Energy objected to his application, claiming Mr Smith’s slogan was too similar to its own.The UK Trademark Office ruled in favour of Thirsty Beasts, but Monster Energy appealed the decision.
Stupid Patent of the Month: A Patent on Using Mathematical Proofs | Electronic Frontier Foundation
In some fields, software bugs are more than the proverbial pain in the neck. When software has to ensure that an airplane lands safely, or that a pacemaker keeps operating, there’s no room for error.The idea that mathematical proofs could be used to prove that software is error-free has been around since the 1970s, and is known as “formal verification.” But like a lot of technologies that some visionaries saw coming, it took time to develop. In recent years, computing power has become cheap enough for formal verification to become practical for more software applications.Unfortunately, last month, the field had a monkey wrench thrown into it, in the form of U.S. Patent No. 10,109,010, which the patent office awarded to a U.K.-based company called Aesthetic Integration Ltd.
Source: Stupid Patent of the Month: A Patent on Using Mathematical Proofs | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Canary Mission’s Blacklist of Pro-Palestine Activists Is Taking a Toll
Activists blacklisted by Canary Mission say they’ve experienced anxiety, and now find themselves stepping back from pro-Palestine advocacy as a result.
Source: Canary Mission’s Blacklist of Pro-Palestine Activists Is Taking a Toll
Video Appears to Show NYPD Officers Planting Drugs in Black Man’s Car
It was magical.The marijuana magically appeared in the backseat of a car containing four black boys. Moments before it happened, one of the boys somehow magically knew that the white cops were conjuring up evidence. Police footage showed the entire episode but, for some reason, magically cut off the moment the cop found the weed. Video shows that an invisible blunt must have wondrously lit itself. Prosecutors finally saw the footage and made the case disappear. After a judge saw the video, he magically knew that the police officer would need a lawyer.Yes, there is such a thing as white magic.
Source: Video Appears to Show NYPD Officers Planting Drugs in Black Man’s Car
$337,000 Settlement Headed To Elementary School Students Handcuffed By School Resource Officers | Techdirt
Handcuffing children and causing this sort of reaction is just good school policing, according to the sheriff.After the handcuffings, both children had repeated nightmares, started bed-wetting, and would not let their mothers out of their sight. Both families left the school district, and moved to areas where their children could receive the treatment and accommodations they needed.
Canadian Politician Hangs Out With Racists; Issues Legal Threats To People Calling Him A Racist | Techdirt
A Canadian politician is getting upset — litigiously upset — that people are characterizing him by the company he keeps. Parliament member Kerry Diotte’s legal rep (Arthur Hamilton of Cassel Brock Lawyers) has sent takedown demands to a handful of Twitter users for calling him a racist.Bashir Mohamed was one such user. His tweet called Diotte a racist for “openly associating” with “white supremacists like Faith Goldy.” Goldy was, until recently, a correspondent for the Breitbart-esque Rebel Media. Rebel Media is run by another pal of Diotte’s, Ezra Levant, who has shown support for white nationalist groups like the one that headed up the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally that ended with a car being driven into the crowd by someone with white nationalist views.
New Acting Attorney General Part Of A Patent Scam Company Recently Shut Down By The FTC And Fined Millions | Techdirt
Whitaker played a key role in a patent promotion scam company that was recently fined millions of dollars by the FTC. And, Whitaker apparently used his former job as an Assistant US Attorney to try to intimidate an unhappy “customer” of this firm away from filing a Better Business Bureau complaint. In other words, not only is Whitaker associated with a scammy patent marketing company, he also abused his former title in an effort to create a chilling effect on someone’s speech.