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  31. <title>Agent Mulder Was Right! (Sort Of)</title>
  32. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/agent-mulder-was-right-sort-of/</link>
  33. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/agent-mulder-was-right-sort-of/#respond</comments>
  35. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tim Cushing]]></dc:creator>
  36. <pubDate>Tue, 17 Jun 2025 03:02:00 +0000</pubDate>
  37. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  38. <category><![CDATA[area 51]]></category>
  39. <category><![CDATA[defense department]]></category>
  40. <category><![CDATA[disinformation]]></category>
  41. <category><![CDATA[fox mulder]]></category>
  42. <category><![CDATA[ufos]]></category>
  43. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=501352&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=501352</guid>
  44.  
  45. <description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s one of those things I don&#8217;t discuss on main. I&#8217;m not really sure why. Maybe it was my strict religious upbringing, which made discussing anything outside of preferred interpretations of the Bible sacrilegious, if not actually blasphemous. Or maybe it was a concern about being a bit outside of the mainstream, which might result [&#8230;]]]></description>
  46. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s one of those things I don&#8217;t discuss on main. I&#8217;m not really sure why. Maybe it was my strict religious upbringing, which made discussing anything outside of preferred interpretations of the Bible sacrilegious, if not actually blasphemous. Or maybe it was a concern about being a bit outside of the mainstream, which might result in fewer opportunities to &#8220;tap the keg&#8221; or whatever.</p>
  47. <p>But I &#8212; like my hero <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Francis" data-type="link" data-id="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Francis">Black Francis/Frank Black</a> (former and [now] current lead singer of the Pixies) &#8212; have always had a fascination with UFOs. To my ultra-religious parents, any unidentified flying object was most likely a demonic manifestation. (I wish that was a punchline. It isn&#8217;t. This is something <em>they actually said</em>.)</p>
  48. <p>To me, UFOs were unexplained, which was fascinating to me because so much in life is, and so much of it is <em>over-explained</em>. </p>
  49. <p>It also was my own expression of faith: a belief in something I couldn&#8217;t readily understand. And while that created friction with my own resistance to Christianity (another belief that couldn&#8217;t be grounded in reality), I always considered my irrational belief to be superior. Why? Because what harm has believing in UFOs ever posed to other human beings? No crusades have been carried out in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_51" data-type="link" data-id="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_51">Area 51&#8217;s</a> name. No <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell,_New_Mexico" data-type="link" data-id="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell,_New_Mexico">Roswell residents</a> have ever bombed members of other religions into non-existence. </p>
  50. <p>As I&#8217;ve gotten older, I&#8217;ve shed some of that willingness to believe. I mean, I <em>definitely</em> don&#8217;t trust the government, which means I can theoretically build a better case for stashing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_alien" data-type="link" data-id="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_alien">greys</a> in an underground Nevada lab. On the other hand, I just got older, which meant being less fascinated by things that are undeniably fascinating. It happens to all of us. When I was five, particularly large tractors fascinated me. Forty-plus years on, particularly large tractors are just annoyances slowing me down during my drive to my day job.</p>
  51. <p>We can never truly regain the magical sense of wonder we had when we were younger. But for a short period of time, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106179/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106179/">the <em>X-Files</em> TV show</a> reignited my fascination with the not-immediately explainable. It also made me a Mulder: someone who feared explanations almost as much as he suspected powerful people might be hiding something from him. </p>
  52. <p>Whatever was left of that delayed childhood was stripped away by the normal stuff: jobs, parenthood, <a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/topics/uaps" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.archives.gov/research/topics/uaps">a steady stream of releases</a> from the federal government explaining away pretty much every UFO, or at least, making otherworldly explanations far less probable. It also stripped away that magical abbreviation, replacing it with &#8220;UAP:&#8221; unidentified aerial phenomenon. And that kind of sucks. </p>
  53. <p>&#8220;Phenomenon&#8221; should mean once in a lifetime experiences. Instead, it just means <em>anything</em> that happens that the government doesn&#8217;t have an immediate explanation for, even when the &#8220;phenomena&#8221; was witnessed by hundreds of people. </p>
  54. <p>This massively overlong intro leads to this: the disheartening (for younger me at least!) revelation that Area 51&#8217;s UFO roots are inextricably tied (most likely!) to the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/ufo-us-disinformation-45376f7e" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/ufo-us-disinformation-45376f7e">government&#8217;s interest in engaging the UFO crowd in a snipe hunt</a> to better protect the seemingly magical vehicles and devices it hoped to use for the decidedly less-magical purpose of, you know, killing people.</p>
  55. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  56. <p><em>A tiny Pentagon office had spent months investigating conspiracy theories about secret Washington UFO programs when it uncovered a shocking truth: At least one of those theories had been fueled by the Pentagon itself.&nbsp;</em></p>
  57. <p><em>The congressionally ordered probe took investigators back to the 1980s, when an Air Force colonel visited a bar near Area 51, a top-secret site in the Nevada desert. He gave the owner photos of what might be flying saucers. The photos went up on the walls, and into the local lore went the idea that the U.S. military was secretly testing recovered alien technology.</em></p>
  58. <p><em>But the colonel was on a mission—of disinformation. The photos were doctored, the now-retired officer confessed to the Pentagon investigators in 2023. The whole exercise was a ruse to protect what was really going on at Area 51: The Air Force was using the site to develop top-secret stealth fighters, viewed as a critical edge against the Soviet Union. Military leaders were worried that the programs might get exposed if locals somehow glimpsed a test flight of, say, the F-117 stealth fighter, an aircraft that truly did look out of this world. Better that they believe it came from Andromeda.</em></p>
  59. </blockquote>
  60. <p>Where did this come from? Oddly enough, it comes from an investigation clearing the government of any  wrongdoing. The internal investigation was only tasked with finding out whether or not the government had lied about its knowledge of the existence of extraterrestrial life. That it covered it up its own UAP activities by planting stories about UFOs was considered to be the sort of thing a government should do to protect national security. </p>
  61. <p>In other words, there <em>wa</em>s<em> </em>a cover-up. But not the cover-up people expected, at least not those prone to believe in UFOs and little green/grey men. Instead, the government pushed the UFO narrative to encourage the public to believe the unexplainable stuff they saw in the sky should be attributed to interstellar invaders, rather than the US&#8217;s own attempts to outmaneuver the Commies. </p>
  62. <p>Even more strangely, the government insisted on <em>continuing</em> the cover-up of flight activity until the year of our lord two thousand twenty-four, despite years of accounts of UFOs and <a href="https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/whats-up-with-aliens-and-anal-probes" data-type="link" data-id="https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/whats-up-with-aliens-and-anal-probes">anal-probing aliens</a> being treated as no more credible than <a href="https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2017/07/13/tortilla-miracle-brought-hope-and-mockery-new-mexico-family/477429001/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2017/07/13/tortilla-miracle-brought-hope-and-mockery-new-mexico-family/477429001/">Virgin Mary appearances on local tortillas</a>. When the Pentagon was forced to relinquish UFO/UAP files, it still pretended stuff needed to remain classified, even when it discussed technology more than a half-century old.</p>
  63. <p>To be clear, there may still be some form of &#8220;Deep State&#8221; operative in the US government. But it&#8217;s not subject to partisan pressure. It&#8217;s only subject to its deeply paranoid beliefs that there&#8217;s something out there. And that &#8220;something&#8221; is the public&#8217;s understandable desire to learn more. Secrets have to be maintained, even when they no longer serve a purpose. The truth will always be out there, Mulder. But <em>what</em> that truth is may disappoint you more than it surprises you.</p>
  64. <p>Final note: I referenced Frank Black/Black Francis/Pixies earlier and I realize many of you may not know how much the lead singer of this seminal band was infatuated with UFOs. To clear this up, here are a few picks from one of the greatest bands/lead singers ever.</p>
  65. <p><strong>Pixies &#8211; Motorway to Roswell</strong> (self-explanatory but enjoy the keyboard work from Pere Ubu member Eric Drew Feldman)</p>
  66. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio">
  67. <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  68. <iframe title="Pixies - Motorway to Roswell (Official Lyric Video)" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qvsBOen_WW8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  69. </div>
  70. </figure>
  71. <p><strong>Pixies &#8211; The Thing</strong> (a b-side shortening of &#8220;The Happening,&#8221; but pay attention to the &#8220;good man&#8221; whose name was &#8220;Bill.&#8221; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break-in_record" data-type="link" data-id="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break-in_record">IT&#8217;S A CLUE</a>.)</p>
  72. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio">
  73. <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  74. <iframe title="PIXIES - The Thing (Official Lyric Video)" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9qaJKP0GFwU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  75. </div>
  76. </figure>
  77. <p>Finally: </p>
  78. <p><strong>Pixies &#8211; Lovely Day</strong> (A regular-ass love song, except for this tag line &#8220;You will be my martian honey all the day&#8221;)</p>
  79. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio">
  80. <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  81. <iframe title="Lovely Day" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BdVt1IXdGpQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  82. </div>
  83. </figure>
  84. ]]></content:encoded>
  86. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/agent-mulder-was-right-sort-of/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  87. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  90. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">501352</post-id> </item>
  91. <item>
  92. <title>In The Vax Wars, RFK Jr. Predictably Wields Misinformation As A Weapon</title>
  93. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/in-the-vax-wars-rfk-jr-predictably-wields-misinformation-as-a-weapon/</link>
  94. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/in-the-vax-wars-rfk-jr-predictably-wields-misinformation-as-a-weapon/#comments</comments>
  96. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Dark Helmet]]></dc:creator>
  97. <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jun 2025 23:07:00 +0000</pubDate>
  98. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  99. <category><![CDATA[cdc]]></category>
  100. <category><![CDATA[covid]]></category>
  101. <category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
  102. <category><![CDATA[disinformation]]></category>
  103. <category><![CDATA[fake studies]]></category>
  104. <category><![CDATA[guidance]]></category>
  105. <category><![CDATA[health and human services]]></category>
  106. <category><![CDATA[misinformation]]></category>
  107. <category><![CDATA[rfk jr.]]></category>
  108. <category><![CDATA[vaccines]]></category>
  109. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=503636&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=503636</guid>
  110.  
  111. <description><![CDATA[The second most frustrating aspect of RFK Jr.&#8217;s performance as the head of Health and Human Services has been just how predictable the actions he&#8217;s taken are. When you start with a simple premise, that Kennedy is a vehement anti-vaxxer, the view that measles is less harmful than the MMR vaccine makes sense. The appointment [&#8230;]]]></description>
  112. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The second most frustrating aspect of <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/tag/rfk-jr/">RFK Jr.&#8217;s</a> performance as the head of Health and Human Services has been just how predictable the actions he&#8217;s taken are. When you start with a simple premise, that Kennedy is a vehement anti-vaxxer, the view that measles is <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/08/rfk-jr-s-measles-policy-deaths-are-expected-and-its-the-victims-fault/">less harmful</a> than the MMR vaccine makes sense. The appointment of other wellness <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/09/new-us-surgeon-general-nominee-is-rfk-jr-s-favorite-wellness-influencer/">charlatans</a> tracks perfectly. The pulling back on COVID vaccination <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/04/cdc-half-steps-rfk-jr-s-new-covid-vaccine-guidance-as-top-scientist-resigns/">guidance</a> fits like a puzzle piece. And it should be no surprise that Kennedy decided to fire every single vaccine expert on the <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/10/rfk-jr-fires-every-single-member-of-cdcs-immunization-advisory-committee/">ACIP panel</a> to clear the way for his anti-vaxxer views.</p>
  113. <p>But really, truly, <em>the most</em> frustrating part of his reign thus far has been Congress&#8217; complete unwillingness to end this era of malfunction, or in any way attempt to control it. From Kennedy&#8217;s nomination hearings all the way to the present, our representatives in Washington have sat back, arms folded, completely disinterested in the very real harm and, yes, deaths that are and will occur due to Kennedy&#8217;s incompetence.</p>
  114. <p>But, god damn it, I have to believe that Congress at least might have a problem being lied to directly by Kennedy. And that appears to be what he did <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/06/13/nx-s1-5431935/rfk-hhs-covid-vaccine-schedule-faq">when he sent a report</a> to back up his changing of the COVID vaccine guidance. The report is reportedly filled with studies that are either unpublished, under current dispute, or which don&#8217;t actually say what he says they say. Misinformation, in other words, fed directly by the HHS Secretary to a Congress that is supposed to oversee his work.</p>
  115. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  116. <p><em>Titled &#8220;Covid Recommendation FAQ&#8221;, the document has not been posted on the HHS website, though it is the first detailed explanation of Kennedy&#8217;s announcement from the agency. Medical experts who reviewed all the citations in the FAQ said it distorts some legitimate studies and cites others that are disputed and unpublished.</em></p>
  117. <p><em><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20420986241226566" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">One of the studies</a>&nbsp;the HHS document cites is under investigation by its publisher, Sage Journals, regarding &#8220;potential issues with the research methodology and conclusions and author conflicts of interest,&#8221; according to a link on&nbsp;<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20420986241239903" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the study&#8217;s webpage</a>.</em></p>
  118. <p><em>&#8220;This is RFK Jr.&#8217;s playbook,&#8221; said Dr.&nbsp;<a href="https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/accords/about/faculty-staff-directory/O-Leary-Sean-UCD11631" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sean O&#8217;Leary</a>, chair of the Committee on Infectious Diseases for the American Academy of Pediatrics and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. &#8220;Either cherry-pick from good science or take junk science to support his premise — this has been his playbook for 20 years.&#8221;</em></p>
  119. </blockquote>
  120. <p>To that end, there are more issues with the research and studies powering this document of bullshit. Rather than just published studies that are under current dispute, some of the studies cited haven&#8217;t even been published yet. That means no peer review. Kennedy has been quite fond recently of the phrase &#8220;gold standard science&#8221;, as though he just learned it. He doesn&#8217;t seem to know what it means, however. Peer reviewed studies <em>are</em> the gold standard in science and medical research, for what should be painfully obviously reasons. Even the NIH&#8217;s <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4093306/">own site acknowledges this</a>. If your research or paper cannot survive the scrutiny of your peers, how good can it really be?</p>
  121. <p>Other studies, including unpublished studies, are cited in support of the CDC&#8217;s new guidance despite those studies <em>explicitly stating that they should not be</em>.</p>
  122. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  123. <p><em>Another&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.20.24306810v1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study cited</a>&nbsp;in the document is a preprint that was made available online a year ago, and has still not been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Under the study&#8217;s title is an alert that &#8220;it reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.&#8221;</em></p>
  124. <p><em>The FAQ draws on the preprint to claim that &#8220;post-marketing studies&#8221; of COVID vaccines have identified &#8220;serious adverse effects, such as an increased risk of myocarditis and pericarditis&#8221; — conditions in which the heart&#8217;s muscle or its covering, the pericardium, suffer inflammation.</em></p>
  125. <p><em>While research early in the pandemic did find that, new research not included in the memo indicates that the risk has fallen with new vaccine protocols.</em></p>
  126. </blockquote>
  127. <p>More cherry picking, it seems, along with a complete disregard for the very researchers that performed the research as to how it is used. Kennedy recently claimed his HHS would follow the science and scientists wherever the data leads. He is not, because it doesn&#8217;t conform to his agenda.</p>
  128. <p>And then there are the bald-faced lies.</p>
  129. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  130. <p><em>In two instances, the HHS memo makes claims about dangers to pregnant women that are&nbsp;<a href="https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1471-0528.17721" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">actively refuted</a>&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href="https://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/fulltext/2022/04000/in_vitro_fertilization_and_early_pregnancy.3.aspx%C2%A0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the papers</a>&nbsp;it cites to back them up. Both papers support the safety and effectiveness of COVID vaccines for pregnant women.</em></p>
  131. <p><em>The HHS document says that another&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X24001270?via%3Dihub#s0090" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">paper it cites</a>&nbsp;found &#8220;an increase in placental blood clotting in pregnant mothers who took the vaccine.&#8221; But the paper doesn&#8217;t contain any reference to placental blood clots or to pregnant women.</em></p>
  132. <p><em>&#8220;I&#8217;ve now read it three times. And I cannot find that anywhere,&#8221; said Turrentine, the OB-GYN professor.</em></p>
  133. <p><em>If he were grading the HHS document, &#8220;I would give this an &#8216;F,'&#8221; Turrentine said. &#8220;This is not supported by anything and it&#8217;s not using medical evidence.&#8221;</em></p>
  134. </blockquote>
  135. <p>Folks, there ought to be zero instances of our government operating on lies when it comes to creating policy. But that&#8217;s all this is. An agenda-driven madman heading up HHS changing policy and programs with a wave of a hand to comport with his misguided agenda, all while it&#8217;s being supported by either <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/29/rfk-jr-s-maha-report-cites-studies-that-dont-seem-to-exist-misinterprets-others/">AI-generated slop</a> or whatever the hell this FAQ-of-lies is.</p>
  136. <p>So, to members of Congress on one side of the political aisle, I merely ask this: have you no pride? You&#8217;re okay with being spoon-fed lies from a former democrat simply because Dear Leader says so? You&#8217;re okay with having blood on your hands as a result of your inability to do your job performing oversight? You&#8217;re okay with being the useful idiot in Kennedy&#8217;s agenda?</p>
  137. ]]></content:encoded>
  139. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/in-the-vax-wars-rfk-jr-predictably-wields-misinformation-as-a-weapon/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  140. <slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
  143. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">503636</post-id> </item>
  144. <item>
  145. <title>Why Centralized AI Is Not Our Inevitable Future</title>
  146. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/why-centralized-ai-is-not-our-inevitable-future/</link>
  147. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/why-centralized-ai-is-not-our-inevitable-future/#comments</comments>
  149. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mike Masnick]]></dc:creator>
  150. <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jun 2025 20:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
  151. <category><![CDATA[openai]]></category>
  152. <category><![CDATA[agency]]></category>
  153. <category><![CDATA[aggregator's dilemma]]></category>
  154. <category><![CDATA[ai]]></category>
  155. <category><![CDATA[centralization]]></category>
  156. <category><![CDATA[control]]></category>
  157. <category><![CDATA[data sovereignty]]></category>
  158. <category><![CDATA[enshittification]]></category>
  159. <category><![CDATA[generative ai]]></category>
  160. <category><![CDATA[gentle singularity]]></category>
  161. <category><![CDATA[incentives]]></category>
  162. <category><![CDATA[llms]]></category>
  163. <category><![CDATA[open]]></category>
  164. <category><![CDATA[open ecosystem]]></category>
  165. <category><![CDATA[sam altman]]></category>
  166. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=503682</guid>
  167.  
  168. <description><![CDATA[Sam Altman&#8217;s vision of a &#8220;gentle singularity&#8221; where AI gradually transforms society presents an alluring future of abundance and human flourishing. His optimism about AI&#8217;s potential to solve humanity&#8217;s greatest challenges is compelling, and his call for thoughtful deployment resonates. Altman&#8217;s essay focuses primarily on the research and development side of AI, painting an inspiring [&#8230;]]]></description>
  169. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Sam Altman&#8217;s<a href="https://blog.samaltman.com/the-gentle-singularity"> vision of a &#8220;gentle singularity</a>&#8221; where AI gradually transforms society presents an alluring future of abundance and human flourishing. His optimism about AI&#8217;s potential to solve humanity&#8217;s greatest challenges is compelling, and his call for thoughtful deployment resonates. Altman&#8217;s essay focuses primarily on the research and development side of AI, painting an inspiring picture of technological progress. However, as CEO of OpenAI—whose ChatGPT has become the dominant consumer interface for AI—there&#8217;s a crucial dimension missing from his analysis: how this technology will actually be distributed and controlled. <a href="https://x.com/TechEmails/status/1923799934492606921?t=BP5HlCx08IblHeNpEn_5gA&amp;s=08">Recent internal communications</a> suggest OpenAI envisions ChatGPT becoming a &#8216;super-assistant,&#8217; effectively positioning itself as the primary gateway through which humanity experiences AI. This implicit assumption that transformation will be orchestrated by a handful of centralized AI providers suggests an important blind spot that threatens the very human agency he seeks to champion.</p>
  170. <h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Seductive Danger of the Benevolent Dictator</strong></h4>
  171. <p>Altman&#8217;s vision inadvertently risks creating a perfect digital dictator—an omniscient AI system that knows us better than we know ourselves, anticipating our needs and steering society toward prosperity. But as history teaches us, there is no such thing as a good dictator. The problem isn&#8217;t the dictator&#8217;s intentions but the structure itself: a system with no room for error, no mechanism for course correction, and no escape valve when things go wrong.</p>
  172. <p>When OpenAI builds memories into ChatGPT that users can&#8217;t fully audit or control, when it creates dossiers about users while hiding what it knows, it risks building systems that work <em>on</em> us rather than <em>for</em> us. A dossier is not for you; it is about you. The distinction matters profoundly in an era where context is power, and whoever controls your context controls you.</p>
  173. <h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Aggregator&#8217;s Dilemma</strong></h4>
  174. <p>OpenAI, like any company operating at scale, faces structural pressures inherent to the aggregator model. The business model demands engagement maximization, which inevitably leads to what we might call &#8220;sycophantic AI&#8221;—systems that tell us what we want to hear rather than what we need to hear. When your AI assistant is funded by keeping you engaged rather than helping you flourish, whose interests does it really serve?</p>
  175. <p>The trajectory is predictable: first come the memories and personalization, then the subtle steering toward sponsored content, then the imperceptible nudges toward behaviors that benefit the platform. We&#8217;ve seen this movie before with social media—many of the same executives now leading AI companies worked at social media companies that perfected the engagement-maximizing playbook that left society anxious, polarized, and addicted. Why would we expect a different outcome when applying the same playbook to even more powerful technology? This isn&#8217;t a question of intent—the people at OpenAI genuinely want to build beneficial AI. But structural incentives have their own gravity.</p>
  176. <p>To be clear, the centralization of AI models themselves may be inevitable—the capital requirements and economies of scale may make that a practical necessity. The danger lies in bundling those models with centralized storage of our personal contexts and memories, creating vertical integration that locks users into a single provider&#8217;s ecosystem.</p>
  177. <h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Alternative: Intentional Technology</strong></h4>
  178. <p>Instead of racing to build the one AI to rule them all, we should be building intentional technology—systems genuinely aligned with human agency and aspirations rather than corporate KPIs. This means:</p>
  179. <p><strong>Your AI Should Work for You, Not Someone Else</strong>: Every person deserves a Private Intelligence that works only for them, with no ulterior motives or conflicts of interest. Your AI should be like having your own personal cloud—as private as running software on your own device, but with the convenience of the cloud. This doesn&#8217;t mean everyone needs their own AI model—we can share the computational infrastructure while keeping our personal contexts sovereign and portable.</p>
  180. <p><strong>Open Ecosystems, Not Walled Gardens</strong>: The future of AI shouldn&#8217;t be determined by whoever wins the race to centralize the most data and compute. We need open, composable systems where thousands of developers and millions of users can contribute and innovate, not closed platforms where innovation requires permission from the gatekeeper.</p>
  181. <p><strong>Data Sovereignty</strong>: You should own your context, your memories, your digital soul. The ability to export isn&#8217;t enough—true ownership means no one else can see your data, no algorithm can analyze it without your permission, and you can move freely between services without losing your history.</p>
  182. <h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Path Forward</strong></h4>
  183. <p>Altman is right that AI will transform society, but wrong about how that transformation should unfold. The choice isn&#8217;t between his &#8220;gentle singularity&#8221; and Luddite resistance. It&#8217;s between hyper-centralized systems that inevitably tend toward extraction and manipulation, versus distributed systems that enhance human agency and preserve choice.</p>
  184. <p>The real question isn&#8217;t whether AI will change everything—it&#8217;s whether we&#8217;ll build AI that helps us become more authentically ourselves, or AI that molds us into more profitable users. The gentle singularity Altman envisions might start gently, but any singularity that revolves around a single company contains within it the seeds of tyranny.</p>
  185. <p>We don&#8217;t need Big Tech&#8217;s vision of AI. We need Better Tech—technology that respects human agency, preserves privacy, enables creativity, and distributes power rather than concentrating it. The future of AI should be as distributed as human aspirations, as diverse as human needs, and as accountable as any tool that touches the most intimate parts of our lives must be.</p>
  186. <p>The singularity, if it comes, should not be monotone. It should be exuberant, creative, and irreducibly plural—billions of experiments in human flourishing, not a single experiment in species-wide management. That&#8217;s the future worth building.</p>
  187. <p><em><a href="https://komoroske.com/">Alex Komoroske</a> is the CEO and co-founder of <a href="https://common.tools">Common Tools</a>. He was previously Head of Corporate Strategy at Stripe and a Director of Product Management at Google.</em></p>
  188. ]]></content:encoded>
  190. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/why-centralized-ai-is-not-our-inevitable-future/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  191. <slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
  194. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">503682</post-id> </item>
  195. <item>
  196. <title>Trump&#8217;s FTC Turns Consumer Protection Into MAGA Protection Racket</title>
  197. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/trumps-ftc-turns-consumer-protection-into-maga-protection-racket/</link>
  198. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/trumps-ftc-turns-consumer-protection-into-maga-protection-racket/#comments</comments>
  200. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mike Masnick]]></dc:creator>
  201. <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jun 2025 18:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  202. <category><![CDATA[interpublic]]></category>
  203. <category><![CDATA[meta]]></category>
  204. <category><![CDATA[omnicom]]></category>
  205. <category><![CDATA[twitter]]></category>
  206. <category><![CDATA[x]]></category>
  207. <category><![CDATA[1st amendment]]></category>
  208. <category><![CDATA[advertising]]></category>
  209. <category><![CDATA[andrew ferguson]]></category>
  210. <category><![CDATA[anti-conservative bias]]></category>
  211. <category><![CDATA[bias]]></category>
  212. <category><![CDATA[boycott]]></category>
  213. <category><![CDATA[consent decree]]></category>
  214. <category><![CDATA[content moderation]]></category>
  215. <category><![CDATA[elon musk]]></category>
  216. <category><![CDATA[free association]]></category>
  217. <category><![CDATA[free speech]]></category>
  218. <category><![CDATA[ftc]]></category>
  219. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=503720</guid>
  220.  
  221. <description><![CDATA[When Andrew Ferguson made his pitch to Donald Trump to take over the organization, his one-page “pick me” plea talked about “ending” former FTC Chair Lina Khan’s “politically motivated investigations.” We pointed out at the time how hilarious it was that he then made it clear he fully intended to abuse the power of the [&#8230;]]]></description>
  222. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When Andrew Ferguson <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2024/12/11/incoming-ftc-chair-i-will-stop-all-these-investigations-that-i-falsely-claim-are-politically-motivated-in-order-to-launch-my-own-openly-politically-motivated-investigations/">made his pitch to Donald Trump</a> to take over the organization, his one-page “pick me” plea talked about “ending” former FTC Chair Lina Khan’s “politically motivated investigations.” We pointed out at the time how hilarious it was that he then made it clear he fully intended to abuse the power of the FTC to, instead, launch “politically motivated investigations” on behalf of MAGA culture war interests.</p>
  223. <div class="wp-block-image">
  224. <figure class="aligncenter"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/lex-img-p.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/img/d9cf2ffa-b0f9-406c-a1ff-520c0683ce32-RackMultipart20250613-162-2t2kkp.png?ssl=1" alt=""/></figure>
  225. </div>
  226. <p>Now we have two separate reports of the FTC going way further than just launching bogus “politically motivated investigations,” but also looking to <strong>use consent decrees for clearly partisan support</strong>. This isn&#8217;t just garden-variety regulatory capture. It&#8217;s the transformation of a consumer protection agency into a protection racket for Trump loyalists and billionaire friends.</p>
  227. <p>We’ve joked in the past that it’s become something of a rite of passage for large internet companies that they end up with a 20-year FTC consent decree at some point. Almost always, this is because of some gross violation of privacy by the company, leading to promises not to be so negligent and to be a lot more careful going forward. For a lot of companies it’s kind of the cost of becoming big enough to matter. Some, like Elon Musk, constantly whine about how unfair these consent decrees are.</p>
  228. <p>But now Ferguson is clearly looking to weaponize consent decrees to help friends and punish enemies.</p>
  229. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Meta Shakedown: Pay Up For Exercising Editorial Rights</h2>
  230. <p>First up, a story from the NY Post ostensibly about how the big tech billionaires all <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/06/06/business/big-techs-bet-on-trump-hasnt-yielded-special-favors/">kissed Donald Trump’s ass… for basically nothing</a> in return. Trump and his allies are still abusing regulatory power to punish these companies. But, buried in that piece is this bit of ridiculous news:</p>
  231. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  232. <p><em>Trump’s team, sources told me, are now pushing for aggressive measures, including</em> <strong><em>a potential consent decree as part of an FTC deal that could force Meta to pay restitution to conservative users and businesses harmed by content moderation</em></strong> <em>that was ratcheted up dramatically during covid.</em></p>
  233. </blockquote>
  234. <p>It’s kind of shocking how ridiculous and inappropriate that would be. First of all, courts up to and including the Supreme Court have already made it abundantly clear that content moderation is protected by the First Amendment, noting that it is the same as the type of editorial discretion that enables Fox News to only spew bullshit and rarely post stories critical of Donald Trump.</p>
  235. <p>Second, the FTC has zero authority to regulate speech or force companies to pay damages for exercising their editorial rights. Consumer protection agencies don&#8217;t get to second-guess private companies&#8217; editorial decisions, even when those decisions upset powerful political constituencies.</p>
  236. <p>Third, the predicate for this entire scheme—that Meta was biased against conservatives—is completely fabricated. Study after study after study has shown that Meta <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/02/new-study-finds-no-evidence-anti-conservative-bias-facebook-moderation-if-anything-opposite/">strongly <em>favored conservative users</em></a> rather than targeting them. Indeed, it had a <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2021/02/24/yet-another-story-shows-how-facebook-bent-over-backwards-to-put-place-different-rules-conservatives/">separate set of rules</a> that allowed MAGA types to violate its rules <em>more frequently</em> before facing any consequences, while <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2020/10/19/facebook-is-so-biased-against-conservatives-that-mark-zuckerberg-personally-agreed-to-diminish-reach-left-leaning-sites/">deliberately limiting the reach</a> of more liberal voices. This is why the platform is dominated by MAGA voices and has been for years.</p>
  237. <p>In other words, Ferguson wants to force a company to pay damages to people who broke that company&#8217;s rules, based on a completely false premise about bias, in direct violation of both the First Amendment and the FTC&#8217;s statutory authority.</p>
  238. <p>That seems… bad?</p>
  239. <p>But, of course, with Zuckerberg so desperate to suck up to Trump, watch him actually agree to this bit of nonsense.</p>
  240. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Advertising Racket: Pay Elon Or No Deal</h2>
  241. <p>The second example is a NY Times article regarding <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/business/ftc-omnicom-interpublic-merger.html?unlocked_article_code=1.OU8.wz12.ASwNKi6o5N3h&amp;smid=url-share">the FTC’s review of the potential merger</a> between advertising giants Omnicom and Interpublic. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to be concerned about this deal leading to even more consolidation in the advertising market, but that doesn’t seem to be the major concern of the Ferguson FTC.</p>
  242. <p>Instead, the agency wants to use the merger review as leverage to force these companies to buy ads on Elon Musk&#8217;s flailing ExTwitter platform:</p>
  243. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  244. <p><em>A proposed consent decree would prevent the merged company from boycotting platforms because of their political content by refusing to place their clients’ advertisements on them</em><strong><em>,</em></strong> <em>according to two people briefed on the matter.</em></p>
  245. </blockquote>
  246. <p>This sanitized language obscures what&#8217;s really happening here: a protection racket for Elon Musk. As we’ve covered, Elon Musk is very, very mad that <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2023/11/30/elon-after-personally-driving-away-advertisers-tells-them-to-go-fuck-themselves-repeatedly-and-says-earth-will-judge-them-for-killing-extwitter/">he drove away</a> the <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2024/08/20/ad-revenue-on-extwitter-still-in-free-fall-in-second-year-of-elons-reign/">majority of ExTwitter’s advertisers</a>. But rather than look inward at what he did to cause that, he’s blaming everyone else—to the point that <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2024/08/07/it-always-gets-dumber-elon-sues-the-ad-coalition-he-just-rejoined-because-he-thinks-its-illegal-to-not-advertise-on-extwitter/">he is suing advertisers</a> directly for not advertising on ExTwitter (while demanding others <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/12/elon-musks-new-business-model-for-extwitter-give-us-money-or-we-sue/">advertise or be added to the suit</a>). He’s also been trying to <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2023/12/13/missouri-ag-announces-bullshit-censorial-investigation-into-media-matters-over-its-speech/">encourage government officials</a> to spin up “investigations” into advertisers who won’t advertise on ExTwitter, claiming (ridiculously) it’s an illegal boycott.</p>
  247. <p>Courts at both <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2024/08/26/judge-blocks-missouri-ags-elon-inspired-censorial-vindictive-investigation-into-media-matters/">the district</a> and <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/02/appeals-court-yeah-of-course-ken-paxtons-investigation-into-media-matters-was-bullshit/">appeals court</a> levels have rejected this theory as an obvious attack on protected First Amendment activity (i.e., advertisers saying they don’t want their brands associated with neo-Nazi reactionary nonsense).</p>
  248. <p>But, the Ferguson/Trump <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/23/ftc-opens-up-bullshit-investigation-into-media-matters-for-highlighting-ads-next-to-nazi-content-on-extwitter/">FTC launched a similarly bogus investigation</a> anyway, in an effort to abuse the power of the FTC to browbeat firms into giving Elon Musk cash (I assume, so long as Elon stays in Trump’s good graces).</p>
  249. <p>So when the FTC proposes a consent decree preventing ad agencies from &#8220;boycotting platforms because of their political content,&#8221; it&#8217;s essentially telling Omnicom and Interpublic: &#8220;If you want this merger approved, you&#8217;ll agree in writing to buy ads on ExTwitter, whether your clients want them or not.&#8221;</p>
  250. <p>This is textbook corruption: using regulatory approval as leverage to benefit a specific company that happens to be owned by someone (for the moment) in the president&#8217;s inner circle.</p>
  251. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">A Pattern of Regulatory Abuse</h2>
  252. <p>What connects these two schemes is how far they stray from the FTC&#8217;s actual authority. The agency is supposed to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive business practices and prevent anticompetitive mergers. It&#8217;s not supposed to act as an enforcement arm for aggrieved conservatives or as a collection agency for politically connected billionaires.</p>
  253. <p>But, as with Zuckerberg, it’s entirely possible that the ad firms may agree to such a condition just to get the merger done.</p>
  254. <p>Ferguson promised to end &#8220;politically motivated investigations&#8221; and instead launched obviously political shakedown schemes that would make Al Capone proud. The transformation is complete: an agency created to protect consumers from corporate abuse has become a tool for extracting tribute from corporations on behalf of powerful political interests.</p>
  255. <p>This isn&#8217;t just garden-variety corruption or regulatory capture. It&#8217;s the systematic transformation of consumer protection regulatory tools into weapons of political retribution and personal enrichment. And it&#8217;s happening so brazenly that these officials barely even bother to hide their motives anymore.</p>
  256. <p>The corruption is so brazen because they know no one will stop them.</p>
  257. <p>The real tragedy isn&#8217;t just that this undermines the rule of law or corrupts important regulatory institutions. It&#8217;s that when everything becomes nakedly political, we lose the ability to distinguish between legitimate regulatory action and partisan hackery. It creates increased cynicism and distrust of government organizations. And, perhaps that’s part of the point.</p>
  258. ]]></content:encoded>
  260. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/trumps-ftc-turns-consumer-protection-into-maga-protection-racket/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  261. <slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
  264. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">503720</post-id> </item>
  265. <item>
  266. <title>Daily Deal: The 2025 Embedded Systems Engineer Mastery Bundle</title>
  267. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/daily-deal-the-2025-embedded-systems-engineer-mastery-bundle-4/</link>
  268. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/daily-deal-the-2025-embedded-systems-engineer-mastery-bundle-4/#respond</comments>
  270. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Daily Deal]]></dc:creator>
  271. <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jun 2025 17:56:00 +0000</pubDate>
  272. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  273. <category><![CDATA[daily deal]]></category>
  274. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=504192&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=504192</guid>
  275.  
  276. <description><![CDATA[Embedded systems are at the heart of modern innovation, powering everything from smart devices to automotive technology. This Embedded Systems Engineer Mastery Bundle has 10 courses to help equip you with the skills to design, program, and implement microcontroller-based solutions. Gain hands-on experience with Arduino, PIC, and ESP32, master C programming for embedded applications, and [&#8230;]]]></description>
  277. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Embedded systems are at the heart of modern innovation, powering everything from smart devices to automotive technology. This <a href="https://deals.techdirt.com/sales/the-2025-embedded-systems-engineer-mastery-bundle?utm_campaign=affiliaterundown">Embedded Systems Engineer Mastery Bundle</a> has 10 courses to help equip you with the skills to design, program, and implement microcontroller-based solutions. Gain hands-on experience with Arduino, PIC, and ESP32, master C programming for embedded applications, and explore circuit design, PCB fabrication, and IoT development. Whether you&#8217;re a beginner or an experienced developer, this bundle provides a practical, in-depth learning experience to help you excel in the fast-growing field of embedded systems. It&#8217;s on sale for $25.</p>
  278. <div class="wp-block-image">
  279. <figure class="aligncenter size-large"><a href="https://deals.techdirt.com/sales/the-2025-embedded-systems-engineer-mastery-bundle?utm_campaign=affiliaterundown"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/cdnp1.stackassets.com/9e69c279e87b2de1b718953ad298b4d2b9be9122/store/24c189aa7a5e079f41320c9e97ea339a4e6e37d038fcddfd4a8d3ebe8d8c/product_345649_product_shots1.jpg?ssl=1" alt=""/></a></figure>
  280. </div>
  281. <p><em>Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. A portion of all sales from Techdirt Deals helps support Techdirt. The products featured do not reflect endorsements by our editorial team.</em></p>
  282. ]]></content:encoded>
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  285. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  288. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">504192</post-id> </item>
  289. <item>
  290. <title>LA Law Enforcement Agencies Rioted So Hard They Ended Up Shooting Each Other</title>
  291. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/la-law-enforcement-agencies-rioted-so-hard-they-ended-up-shooting-each-other/</link>
  292. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/la-law-enforcement-agencies-rioted-so-hard-they-ended-up-shooting-each-other/#comments</comments>
  294. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tim Cushing]]></dc:creator>
  295. <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jun 2025 16:27:00 +0000</pubDate>
  296. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  297. <category><![CDATA[ice]]></category>
  298. <category><![CDATA[lapd]]></category>
  299. <category><![CDATA[lasd]]></category>
  300. <category><![CDATA[los angeles]]></category>
  301. <category><![CDATA[mass deportations]]></category>
  302. <category><![CDATA[no kings]]></category>
  303. <category><![CDATA[police are rioting]]></category>
  304. <category><![CDATA[protests]]></category>
  305. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=504003&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=504003</guid>
  306.  
  307. <description><![CDATA[While Donald Trump was trying (and failing) to cheer himself up with a self-congratulatory birthday parade &#8212; I mean, just look at this sad boy: &#8212; the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Sheriffs Department were busy turning peaceful protests in violent protests. Throughout the nation, millions gathered peacefully to protest Trump&#8217;s military parade. [&#8230;]]]></description>
  308. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>While Donald Trump was trying (and failing) to cheer himself up with a self-congratulatory birthday parade &#8212; I mean, just look at this sad boy:</p>
  309. <div class="wp-block-image">
  310. <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="886" height="613" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/bafkreigxw7tucxt5dhhqiroj3uf5dk5jn5xp7kud47sv5pf6flh7nrjbh4.jpg?resize=886%2C613&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-504045" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/bafkreigxw7tucxt5dhhqiroj3uf5dk5jn5xp7kud47sv5pf6flh7nrjbh4.jpg?w=886&amp;ssl=1 886w, https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/bafkreigxw7tucxt5dhhqiroj3uf5dk5jn5xp7kud47sv5pf6flh7nrjbh4.jpg?resize=300%2C208&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/bafkreigxw7tucxt5dhhqiroj3uf5dk5jn5xp7kud47sv5pf6flh7nrjbh4.jpg?resize=768%2C531&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/bafkreigxw7tucxt5dhhqiroj3uf5dk5jn5xp7kud47sv5pf6flh7nrjbh4.jpg?resize=600%2C415&amp;ssl=1 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 886px) 100vw, 886px" /></figure>
  311. </div>
  312. <p>&#8212; the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Sheriffs Department were busy turning <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/11/lets-be-clear-the-rioting-in-la-is-by-the-cops-not-the-protestors/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/11/lets-be-clear-the-rioting-in-la-is-by-the-cops-not-the-protestors/">peaceful protests in violent protests</a>.</p>
  313. <p>Throughout the nation, millions gathered peacefully to protest Trump&#8217;s military parade. The &#8220;No Kings&#8221; protests <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/post/no-kings-protest-shooting-salt-lake-city-arturo-gamboa-custody-protester-arthur-folasa-ah-loo-killed-officials-say/16760165/" data-type="link" data-id="https://abc7chicago.com/post/no-kings-protest-shooting-salt-lake-city-arturo-gamboa-custody-protester-arthur-folasa-ah-loo-killed-officials-say/16760165/">were only</a> interrupted by <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/man-accused-of-driving-through-crowd-of-protesters-in-culpeper/3936544/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/man-accused-of-driving-through-crowd-of-protesters-in-culpeper/3936544/">violent acts of interlopers</a>. </p>
  314. <p>In Los Angeles, the ongoing protests against ICE intermingled with &#8220;No Kings&#8221; demonstrators. Everything was going fine until the cops decided that they&#8217;d have to riot if no one else was going to do it. This isn&#8217;t a narrative being pushed by protesters seeking cover for their own violent actions. This is something that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/no-kings-protest-trump-philadelphia-los-angeles-immigration-raids-a3b67d23733cd060f8d01aef1e391dbf" data-type="link" data-id="https://apnews.com/article/no-kings-protest-trump-philadelphia-los-angeles-immigration-raids-a3b67d23733cd060f8d01aef1e391dbf">was confirmed</a> <em>as it happened</em> by <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/jsatz.bsky.social/post/3lrmcbaknxk2p" data-type="link" data-id="https://bsky.app/profile/jsatz.bsky.social/post/3lrmcbaknxk2p">multiple reporters on the scene</a>. </p>
  315. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-bluesky-social wp-block-embed-bluesky-social">
  316. <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  317. <blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:jk5ivcverfo6dg6unfxedbhw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lrmcbaknxk2p" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreiftvu2cewbonphzpt74ykqqh76my43opkfuaokyvtpelbnqasvom4">
  318. <p lang="en">@msnbc.com reporter at the 1:15 mark. “The chaos you’re seeing is not the result of peaceful protestors, it’s the result of actions of law enforcement, specifically the Los Angeles sheriff’s department.” #nokings</p>
  319. <p>&mdash; <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jk5ivcverfo6dg6unfxedbhw?ref_src=embed">Justin Satzman (@jsatz.bsky.social)</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jk5ivcverfo6dg6unfxedbhw/post/3lrmcbaknxk2p?ref_src=embed">2025-06-15T01:18:26.734Z</a></p>
  320. </blockquote>
  321. <p><script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
  322. </div>
  323. </figure>
  324. <p>Whether this is God showing his sense of humor or karma being the bitch it is doesn&#8217;t really matter. The only thing that matters is that it <em>happened</em>, <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/chadloder.bsky.social/post/3lrofe4cpuc25" data-type="link" data-id="https://bsky.app/profile/chadloder.bsky.social/post/3lrofe4cpuc25">it&#8217;s verifiable</a>, and <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/catmolir.bsky.social/post/3lrm77jmoks2d" data-type="link" data-id="https://bsky.app/profile/catmolir.bsky.social/post/3lrm77jmoks2d">it&#8217;s pretty fucking funny</a>. </p>
  325. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-bluesky-social wp-block-embed-bluesky-social">
  326. <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  327. <blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:iw54t4r3hrwyxwnjxboijavq/app.bsky.feed.post/3lrm77jmoks2d" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreicvent3nysjbfufzbl6o4r26lh57wixx4yvjktyhnrk3crxdxb4ki">
  328. <p lang="en">From the scanner right now: LAPD is taking rubber bullets from LASD. I am not joking. (They&#39;re in each other&#39;s crossfire, it&#39;s a clusterfuck that they&#39;ve largely brought on themselves)</p>
  329. <p>&mdash; <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:iw54t4r3hrwyxwnjxboijavq?ref_src=embed">Curator at the Museum of Low Interest Rates (@catmolir.bsky.social)</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:iw54t4r3hrwyxwnjxboijavq/post/3lrm77jmoks2d?ref_src=embed">2025-06-15T00:23:47.045Z</a></p>
  330. </blockquote>
  331. <p><script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
  332. </div>
  333. </figure>
  334. <p>&#8220;Training and expertise.&#8221; After escalating things by firing flashbangs, rubber bullets, and tear gas into crowds of people who were, at best, refusing to immediately respond to a dispersal order (although that&#8217;s still a point of dispute), the only people engaging in actual violence mainly managed to hurt each other. (That being said, plenty of protesters were still in the middle of this friendly fire exchange, as it appears the LAPD and LASD were both trying to keep separate groups of protesters from joining forces.)</p>
  335. <p>As amusing as that is, it&#8217;s still cops instigating conflict, rather than seeking to de-escalate it. And it still means other horrific things happened, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om4CLD-uxjU" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om4CLD-uxjU">like the deliberate shooting of a NY Post reporter</a> by an LA law enforcement officer. </p>
  336. <figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio">
  337. <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  338. <iframe loading="lazy" title="NY Post reporter shot in forehead with rubber bullet while covering LA riots" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/om4CLD-uxjU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  339. </div>
  340. </figure>
  341. <p>Again, there&#8217;s some cruel irony to partake in here, given that the NY Post is firmly pro-cop and has published plenty of cop propaganda while covering anti-ICE protests. </p>
  342. <p>Never mind the narrative being pushed by Trump and some members of law enforcement. The reality is that cops are provoking confrontations and using any excuse possible to <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/06/09/us-news/australian-news-reporter-shot-with-rubber-bullet-live-on-air-while-covering-la-anti-ice-riots/" data-type="link" data-id="https://nypost.com/2025/06/09/us-news/australian-news-reporter-shot-with-rubber-bullet-live-on-air-while-covering-la-anti-ice-riots/">engage in violence</a>. And they&#8217;ll do it <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/azintel.bsky.social/post/3lro76mdjks2a" data-type="link" data-id="https://bsky.app/profile/azintel.bsky.social/post/3lro76mdjks2a">even when they know their actions are being recorded</a>:</p>
  343. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-bluesky-social wp-block-embed-bluesky-social">
  344. <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  345. <blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:forft2qtzk4plnajazyctgrx/app.bsky.feed.post/3lro76mdjks2a" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreihkijq3hosir5id4kcovqljbsuihobrhrlxmglpowx3w2g77prs64">
  346. <p lang="en">WATCH: ABC News reporter Matt Gutman keeps his cool during live coverage on Los Angeles yesterday after officer snaps at him for reportedly touching him.</p>
  347. <p>&mdash; <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:forft2qtzk4plnajazyctgrx?ref_src=embed">AZ Intel (@azintel.bsky.social)</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:forft2qtzk4plnajazyctgrx/post/3lro76mdjks2a?ref_src=embed">2025-06-15T19:28:36.671Z</a></p>
  348. </blockquote>
  349. <p><script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
  350. </div>
  351. </figure>
  352. <p>There are plenty of violent people at these protests. But most of them are wearing badges.</p>
  353. ]]></content:encoded>
  355. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/la-law-enforcement-agencies-rioted-so-hard-they-ended-up-shooting-each-other/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  356. <slash:comments>13</slash:comments>
  359. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">504003</post-id> </item>
  360. <item>
  361. <title>The Trump Admin&#8217;s Dish Network Con Reaches Its Ultimate Conclusion: Failure, Bankruptcy, And Rich New Spectrum Holdings For Elon Musk</title>
  362. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/the-trump-admins-dish-network-con-reaches-its-ultimate-conclusion-failure-bankruptcy-and-rich-new-spectrum-holdings-for-elon-musk/</link>
  363. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/the-trump-admins-dish-network-con-reaches-its-ultimate-conclusion-failure-bankruptcy-and-rich-new-spectrum-holdings-for-elon-musk/#comments</comments>
  365. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Karl Bode]]></dc:creator>
  366. <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jun 2025 12:26:00 +0000</pubDate>
  367. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  368. <category><![CDATA[at&t]]></category>
  369. <category><![CDATA[dish]]></category>
  370. <category><![CDATA[echostar]]></category>
  371. <category><![CDATA[spacex]]></category>
  372. <category><![CDATA[starlink]]></category>
  373. <category><![CDATA[verizon]]></category>
  374. <category><![CDATA[competition]]></category>
  375. <category><![CDATA[consolidation]]></category>
  376. <category><![CDATA[elon musk]]></category>
  377. <category><![CDATA[fcc]]></category>
  378. <category><![CDATA[spectrum]]></category>
  379. <category><![CDATA[telecom]]></category>
  380. <category><![CDATA[wireless]]></category>
  381. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=501512&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=501512</guid>
  382.  
  383. <description><![CDATA[Back in 2019, the Trump DOJ and FCC cobbled together a dumb plan to try and hide the problems created by their rubber stamping of the competition-eroding T-Mobile and Sprint merger: they’d pretend they were helping satellite TV company Dish Network create a new 5G wireless network out of vibes and twine. As we noted back in 2019, [&#8230;]]]></description>
  384. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Back in 2019, the <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2019/12/30/doj-antitrust-boss-delrahim-ignored-hard-data-as-he-rubber-stamped-t-mobile-merger/">Trump DOJ and FCC cobbled together a dumb plan</a> to try and hide the problems created by their rubber stamping of the competition-eroding T-Mobile and Sprint merger: they’d pretend they were helping satellite TV company Dish Network create a new 5G wireless network out of <em>vibes and twine</em>. As we <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2019/07/31/dojs-plan-to-fix-t-mobile-merger-isnt-going-to-work/">noted back in 2019</a>, the entire gambit was doomed to failure for a long list of reasons.</p>
  385. <p>Dish never had any real experience building wireless networks. The Trump administration had no real interest in fostering competition (its &#8220;antitrust enforcer&#8221; at the time <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/technology/sprint-t-mobile-merger-antitrust-official.html">used his personal phone to help the companies dodge regulatory scrutiny</a>). Multiple companies always wanted the spectrum Dish was collecting, and nobody in wireless really wanted to have to seriously compete on price. </p>
  386. <p>Dish CEO Charlie Ergen, who had long been hoarding valuable spectrum, needed to pretend to the government he was serious about using it, and not just waiting for its value to appreciate so he could cash out later. The entire plan always seemed like a <em>decorative</em> con. </p>
  387. <p>Fast forward to 2025 and the Dish 5G network is a joke nobody really uses, and Dish owner Echostar is now <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/echostar-prepares-potential-bankruptcy-filing-amid-fcc-review-36d6be50">preparing for bankruptcy</a>, precisely as we predicted all along. </p>
  388. <p>Elon Musk&#8217;s Starlink wants a lot of the spectrum Dish is using in the 2GHz band. Verizon and AT&amp;T would likely enjoy owning some of Dish&#8217;s other spectrum assets. So Trump FCC boss Brendan Carr is suddenly pretending to care about holding corporations accountable, and has <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/15/trump-fcc-to-investigate-dish-5g-network-to-the-direct-benefit-of-elon-musk/">launched a new inquiry</a> into whether Dish is stringing regulators along (which I&#8217;d argue the Trump FCC knew was the plan all along).</p>
  389. <p>Echostar has been missing <a href="https://broadbandbreakfast.com/echostar-skips-another-multi-million-dollar-interest-payment/">millions of dollars of interest payments on its notes</a>. Once it&#8217;s threatened by bankruptcy, it likely will find itself in a vulnerable position with the Trump FCC:</p>
  390. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  391. <p><em>&#8220;A looming potential bankruptcy proceeding may force EchoStar back to the negotiation table with the FCC.&#8221;</em></p>
  392. </blockquote>
  393. <p>And that &#8220;negotiation&#8221; most likely ends with the FCC forcing Dish to sell its spectrum assets to Elon Musk, Verizon, and AT&amp;T. Outlets like <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/echostar-prepares-potential-bankruptcy-filing-amid-fcc-review-36d6be50?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAiplHZ-jPWWWAcLwzTxPBPoq49rJ2-tBzpVvsuYsToDanyXUw1OVbnTxhWMwVg%3D&amp;gaa_ts=684830f5&amp;gaa_sig=G0dMrxW-lUt1UkxpXntRz8avpRsrR8kSDI29oDPE6X4Ot5QieyWQJdXo-8DHtfgSVd07Qu-JC3wzhK1NctStag%3D%3D">the Wall Street Journal</a> will of course cover this unskeptically as if the FCC is doing a <strong>serious investigation</strong> and this is all very serious business. </p>
  394. <p>But it&#8217;s all been the greasiest of cons. A half-assed network was built as cover for industry consolidation and spectrum hoarding. When it inevitably failed, it gets stripped for parts with the help of captured regulators in dutiful sway to a billionaire. Dish CEO Charlie Ergen sells his rich hoard of spectrum and heads off into retirement, while the company&#8217;s employees get shitcanned. </p>
  395. <p>The wireless industry consolidates further, competition erodes, consumer prices continue to rise, and captured regulators and U.S. business leaders all ignore all of the problems they helped create, and we all forget about the half-decade-worth of fictions they leveraged to pull the wool over the press&#8217; and public&#8217;s eyes. I&#8217;d still argue that all of this was very likely the plan from the start. </p>
  396. <p>All <strong>very serious business</strong> and <strong>extremely innovative stuff</strong> in a <strong>very serious country</strong> full of <strong>savvy and very serious deal-makers</strong>.</p>
  397. ]]></content:encoded>
  399. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/16/the-trump-admins-dish-network-con-reaches-its-ultimate-conclusion-failure-bankruptcy-and-rich-new-spectrum-holdings-for-elon-musk/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  400. <slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
  403. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">501512</post-id> </item>
  404. <item>
  405. <title>Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt</title>
  406. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/15/funniest-most-insightful-comments-of-the-week-at-techdirt-163/</link>
  407. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/15/funniest-most-insightful-comments-of-the-week-at-techdirt-163/#comments</comments>
  409. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Leigh Beadon]]></dc:creator>
  410. <pubDate>Sun, 15 Jun 2025 19:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  411. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  412. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=503971&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=503971</guid>
  413.  
  414. <description><![CDATA[This week, our winners on the insightful side are a comment-and-reply combo regarding Trump ordering the National Guard into California. In first place, it&#8217;s huskcummerbund with a question: Hey, remember when Kristi Neom tweeted “If Joe Biden federalizes the National Guard, that would be a direct attack on states’ rights. Over the last several years, [&#8230;]]]></description>
  415. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This week, our winners on the insightful side are a comment-and-reply combo regarding Trump ordering the National Guard into California. In first place, it&#8217;s <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/user/huskcummerbund/">huskcummerbund</a> with <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/09/trump-orders-2000-national-guard-troops-to-california-to-shut-down-anti-ice-protests/#comment-4565480">a question</a>:</p>
  416. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  417. <p><em>Hey, remember when Kristi Neom tweeted “If Joe Biden federalizes the National Guard, that would be a direct attack on states’ rights. Over the last several years, we’ve seen Democrats try to take away our Freedoms of religion, assembly, and speech. We can’t let them take away our right to defend ourselves, too.”?</em></p>
  418. <p><em>I wonder what she thinks about this? Will she choose Cognitive Dissonence or outright Hypocracy?</em></p>
  419. </blockquote>
  420. <p>In second place, it&#8217;s <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/user/thad/">Thad</a> with <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/09/trump-orders-2000-national-guard-troops-to-california-to-shut-down-anti-ice-protests/#comment-4565493">the answer</a>:</p>
  421. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  422. <p><em>The same thing Republicans think about everything. “It’s okay when we do it.”</em></p>
  423. </blockquote>
  424. <p>For editor&#8217;s choice on the insightful side, we start out with a comment from <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/user/regularstone/">Stephen T. Stone</a> passing along <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/09/trump-orders-2000-national-guard-troops-to-california-to-shut-down-anti-ice-protests/#comment-4565476">a quote about protests and &#8220;violence&#8221;</a>:</p>
  425. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  426. <p><em>If your tactics disrupt the order of things under capitalism, you may well be accused of violence, because “violence” is an elastic term often deployed to vilify people who threaten the status quo. Conditions that the state characterizes as “peaceful” are, in reality, quite violent. Even as people experience the violence of poverty, the torture of imprisonment, the brutality of policing, the denial of health care, and many other violent functions of this system, we are told we are experiencing peace, so long as everyone is cooperating. When state actors refer to “peace,” they are really talking about order. And when they refer to “peaceful protest,” they are talking about cooperative protest that obediently stays within the lines drawn by the state. The more uncooperative you are, the more you will be accused of aggression and violence. It is therefore imperative that the state not be the arbiter of what violence means among people seeking justice.</em></p>
  427. <p><em>— from Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care by Kelly Hayes</em></p>
  428. </blockquote>
  429. <p>Next, it&#8217;s <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/user/thatoneguy/">That One Guy</a> with a comment about <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/11/lets-be-clear-the-rioting-in-la-is-by-the-cops-not-the-protestors/#comment-4568078">the media&#8217;s role in manufacturing narratives</a>:</p>
  430. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  431. <p><strong><em>&#8216;City burned to ashes! Citizens still living there confused regarding lack of fire or rubble.&#8217;</em></strong></p>
  432. <p><em>The majority of the ‘mainstream’ media in the US has been so effectively collared and leashed at this point that they’ve turned into the US versions of Baghdad Bob, parroting whatever the regime tells them to no matter the lack of evidence or presence of evidence that contradicts their claims.</em></p>
  433. </blockquote>
  434. <p>Over on the funny side, our first place winner is <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/user/mrwilson/">MrWilson</a> with a comment about <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/12/elon-musks-new-business-model-for-extwitter-give-us-money-or-we-sue/#comment-4568980">Elon Musk&#8217;s strategy of demanding business from advertisers while threatening lawsuits</a>:</p>
  435. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  436. <p><em>It’s not “extortion.” It’s extra-legal aggressive negotiation with applied duress! Nothing to see here!</em></p>
  437. </blockquote>
  438. <p>In second place, it&#8217;s <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/09/trump-orders-2000-national-guard-troops-to-california-to-shut-down-anti-ice-protests/#comment-4565566">a quick anonymous clapback reply</a>:</p>
  439. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  440. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  441. <p>&#8220;<em>I always thought</em>&#8220;</p>
  442. </blockquote>
  443. <p><em>Facts not in evidence.</em></p>
  444. </blockquote>
  445. <p>For editor&#8217;s choice on the funny side, we start out with another comment from <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/user/mrwilson/">MrWilson</a>, this time in reply to That One Guy&#8217;s already-highlighted <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/11/lets-be-clear-the-rioting-in-la-is-by-the-cops-not-the-protestors/#comment-4568408">comment about media coverage of protestors</a>:</p>
  446. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  447. <p><em>Portland still hasn’t recovered since the George Floyd protests. You can’t walk a city block without seeing a building that was once not burned down.</em></p>
  448. </blockquote>
  449. <p>Finally, it&#8217;s <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/user/defundmusk/">Nimrod</a> with <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/09/trump-ice-have-earned-every-bit-of-the-hatred-theyre-now-facing/#comment-4566244">a silly but apt joke</a>:</p>
  450. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  451. <p><em>Republicans used to like to drink koolaid, but now they’re switching to ICE tea.</em></p>
  452. </blockquote>
  453. <p>That&#8217;s all for this week, folks!</p>
  454. ]]></content:encoded>
  456. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/15/funniest-most-insightful-comments-of-the-week-at-techdirt-163/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  457. <slash:comments>13</slash:comments>
  460. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">503971</post-id> </item>
  461. <item>
  462. <title>This Week In Techdirt History: June 8th &#8211; 14th</title>
  463. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/14/this-week-in-techdirt-history-june-8th-14th/</link>
  464. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/14/this-week-in-techdirt-history-june-8th-14th/#comments</comments>
  466. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Leigh Beadon]]></dc:creator>
  467. <pubDate>Sat, 14 Jun 2025 19:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  468. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  469. <category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
  470. <category><![CDATA[look back]]></category>
  471. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=503847&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=503847</guid>
  472.  
  473. <description><![CDATA[Five Years Ago This week in 2020, Don Henley was using TikTok as a reason to push for stronger copyright laws, while some Senators were asking the FCC to reinterpret Section 230 in a ridiculous manner, and Ron Wyden was explaining how Trump and many others were totally wrong about 230. Meanwhile, we continued to [&#8230;]]]></description>
  474. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Five Years Ago</strong></p>
  475. <p>This week in 2020, Don Henley was using TikTok as <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/08/don-henley-tells-senators-we-must-change-copyright-law-because-people-like-tiktok/">a reason to push for stronger copyright laws</a>, while some Senators were <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/10/senators-rubio-hawley-loeffler-cramer-ask-fcc-to-reinterpret-section-230-totally-ridiculous-manner/">asking the FCC to reinterpret Section 230 in a ridiculous manner</a>, and Ron Wyden was explaining <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/12/ron-wyden-explains-why-president-trump-many-others-are-totally-wrong-about-section-230/">how Trump and many others were totally wrong about 230</a>. Meanwhile, we continued to follow developments from the George Floyd protests, including <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/09/chicago-mayor-says-citys-police-officers-will-be-stripped-their-powers-if-they-turn-off-their-cameras/">Chicago&#8217;s mayor trying to rein in the city&#8217;s police</a>, the DEA trying to <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/10/dea-wants-fun-asks-doj-to-give-it-permission-to-surveil-george-floyd-protests/">get in on surveilling the protests</a>, and the role of <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/11/behind-every-terrible-police-officer-is-even-worse-police-union-rep/">police unions in making everything worse</a>. We also wrote about <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/09/peaceful-protests-around-nation-are-being-greeted-police-violence-remind-me-again-how-peaceful-protests-are-better/">what all this teaches us about the efficacy of peaceful protest</a>.</p>
  476. <p><strong>Ten Years Ago</strong></p>
  477. <p>This week in 2015, newly released emails showed how <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2015/06/08/revealed-emails-show-how-industry-lobbyists-basically-wrote-tpp/">industry lobbyists basically wrote the TPP</a>. The Copyright Office was making <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2015/06/08/only-copyright-office-would-fix-problem-orphan-works-doubling-down-problem-itself/">a hamfisted attempt to address the problem of orphan works</a>, and we noted how its ideas <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2015/06/10/us-copyright-offices-proposal-orphan-works-wouldnt-be-allowed-if-tpp-is-ratified/">wouldn&#8217;t even be allowed if the TPP were ratified</a>. Mitch McConnel was <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2015/06/09/mitch-mcconnell-wants-to-dump-bogus-cybersecurity-bill-into-defense-authorization/">trying</a> and <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2015/06/11/senate-quickly-says-no-way-to-mitch-mcconnells-cynical-ploy-to-add-bogus-cybersecurity-bill-to-ndaa/">failing</a> to graft a bogus cybersecurity bill onto the NDAA, while an amendment to <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2015/06/10/amendment-blocking-backdoor-searches-backdooring-encryption-to-be-added-to-defense-funding-bill/">prevent backdoor searches and the backdooring of encryption</a> was <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2015/06/11/house-votes-to-block-backdoor-searches-to-block-backdooring-encryption/">embraced by the House</a> (which also blocked the White House from getting <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2015/06/12/boom-house-rejects-fast-track-now/">fast track authority on trade deals</a>).</p>
  478. <p><strong>Fifteen Years Ago</strong></p>
  479. <p>This week in 2010, we looked at the question of whether <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2010/06/08/is-copyright-holding-back-research/">copyright was holding back scientific research</a>. We wrote about Hollywood&#8217;s <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2010/06/08/as-hollywood-sues-over-copyright-infringement-hollywood-celebrates-copyright-infringement-in-glee/">hypocrisy on copyright infringement amidst the popularity of <em>Glee</em></a>, the ethical and legal problems of <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2010/06/09/the-ethical-and-legal-problems-of-having-patients-sign-over-the-copyright-on-doctor-reviews/">having patients sign over the copyright on their reviews of doctors</a>, and <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2010/06/11/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-riaa/">some data on the rise and fall of the RIAA</a>. Lots of targets of lawsuits from US Copyright Group were <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2010/06/11/didnt-take-long-lots-of-people-getting-sued-by-us-copyright-group-claim-innocence/">proclaiming their innocence</a>, while one copyright lawyer was <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2010/06/08/court-smacks-down-copyright-lawyer-for-bad-faith-pursuit-of-copyright-infringement/">smacked down by a court for a bad faith lawsuit</a>. Amidst all this we asked: <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2010/06/11/is-intellectual-property-itself-unethical/">is intellectual property itself unethical?</a></p>
  480. ]]></content:encoded>
  482. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/14/this-week-in-techdirt-history-june-8th-14th/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  483. <slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
  486. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">503847</post-id> </item>
  487. <item>
  488. <title>Senior English Judge Warns That Lawyers Who Use AI Must Check Their Legal Citations Thoroughly – Or Face ‘Severe Sanction’</title>
  489. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/13/senior-english-judge-warns-that-lawyers-who-use-ai-must-check-their-legal-citations-thoroughly-or-face-severe-sanction/</link>
  490. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/13/senior-english-judge-warns-that-lawyers-who-use-ai-must-check-their-legal-citations-thoroughly-or-face-severe-sanction/#comments</comments>
  492. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glyn Moody]]></dc:creator>
  493. <pubDate>Sat, 14 Jun 2025 02:39:00 +0000</pubDate>
  494. <category><![CDATA[anthropic]]></category>
  495. <category><![CDATA[ai]]></category>
  496. <category><![CDATA[barristers]]></category>
  497. <category><![CDATA[chambers]]></category>
  498. <category><![CDATA[chatbots]]></category>
  499. <category><![CDATA[citations]]></category>
  500. <category><![CDATA[claude]]></category>
  501. <category><![CDATA[common law]]></category>
  502. <category><![CDATA[contempt]]></category>
  503. <category><![CDATA[genai]]></category>
  504. <category><![CDATA[justice]]></category>
  505. <category><![CDATA[litigation]]></category>
  506. <category><![CDATA[oversight]]></category>
  507. <category><![CDATA[regulation]]></category>
  508. <category><![CDATA[sanctions]]></category>
  509. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=501529</guid>
  510.  
  511. <description><![CDATA[One of the legitimate criticisms of large language models, generative AI, and chatbots is that they produce hallucinations –- output that is plausible but wrong. That’s a problem in all domains, but arguably it’s a particularly serious one in the field of law. Hallucinated citations undermine the entire edifice of common law, which is based [&#8230;]]]></description>
  512. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the legitimate criticisms of large language models, generative AI, and chatbots is that they produce <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/tag/hallucinations/">hallucinations</a> –- output that is plausible but wrong. That’s a problem in all domains, but arguably it’s a particularly serious one in the field of law. Hallucinated citations undermine the entire edifice of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law">common law</a>, which is based on precedent, as expressed in previous court decisions. This isn’t a new problem: back in May 2023 Techdirt wrote about a case involving a lawyer who had submitted a brief in a personal injury case that had a number of <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2023/05/30/perhaps-gpt-is-not-ready-for-the-supreme-court/">made up</a> citations. Nor is it a problem that is going away. A recent case involved a lawyer representing the AI company Anthropic, who used an <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/15/anthropics-lawyer-was-forced-to-apologize-after-claude-hallucinated-a-legal-citation/">incorrect citation created by the company’s Claude AI chatbot</a> in its current legal battle with music publishers.</p>
  513. <p>Similar cases have been cropping up in the UK, and a High Court judge there has had enough. In a recent ruling, High Court Justice Victoria Sharp explores two cases involving hallucinated citations, makes some general observations about the use of AI by lawyers, and lays down their responsibilities if they do so.</p>
  514. <p>One case involved a filing with 45 citations, 18 of which did not exist; in the other, five non-existent cases were cited. The <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Ayinde-v-London-Borough-of-Haringey-and-Al-Haroun-v-Qatar-National-Bank.pdf">court’s judgment</a> [pdf] provides full details of how the hallucinations came to light, and how the lawyers involved responded when they were confronted with the non-existent citations. There is also an appendix with other examples of legal hallucinations from around the world: five from the US, four from the UK, three from Canada, and one each from Australia and New Zealand. But more important is the judge’s discussion of the broader points raised. Sharp begins by pointing out that AI tools can certainly be useful, and are likely to become an important tool for the legal profession:</p>
  515. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  516. <p><em>Artificial intelligence is a powerful technology. It can be a useful tool in litigation, both civil and criminal. It is used for example to assist in the management of large disclosure exercises in the Business and Property Courts. A recent report into disclosure in cases of fraud before the criminal courts has recommended the creation of a cross-agency protocol covering the ethical and appropriate use of artificial intelligence in the analysis and disclosure of investigative material. Artificial intelligence is likely to have a continuing and important role in the conduct of litigation in the future.</em></p>
  517. </blockquote>
  518. <p>But that positive view comes with an important proviso:</p>
  519. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  520. <p><em>Its use must take place therefore with an appropriate degree of oversight, and within a regulatory framework that ensures compliance with well-established professional and ethical standards if public confidence in the administration of justice is to be maintained.</em></p>
  521. </blockquote>
  522. <p>This is not to be understood as a vague call to do better. Sharp wants to see action from the UK’s legal profession beyond the existing guidance from regulatory bodies (also discussed by her):</p>
  523. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  524. <p><em>There are serious implications for the administration of justice and public confidence in the justice system if artificial intelligence is misused. In those circumstances, practical and effective measures must now be taken by those within the legal profession with individual leadership responsibilities (such as heads of chambers [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barristers'_chambers">groups of barristers</a>] and managing partners) and by those with the responsibility for regulating the provision of legal services. Those measures must ensure that every individual currently providing legal services within this jurisdiction (whenever and wherever they were qualified to do so) understands and complies with their professional and ethical obligations and their duties to the court if using artificial intelligence.</em></p>
  525. </blockquote>
  526. <p>And for those who fail to do this, the court has a range of punishments at its disposal:</p>
  527. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  528. <p><em>Where those duties are not complied with, the court’s powers include public admonition of the lawyer, the imposition of a costs order, the imposition of a wasted costs order, striking out a case, referral to a regulator, the initiation of contempt proceedings, and referral to the police.</em></p>
  529. </blockquote>
  530. <p>In one of the two cases discussed by the judge in her ruling, a serious punishment was not handed out to a lawyer who had failed to check the citations, despite sufficient grounds for doing so. Sharp gave a number of reasons for this in her judgment, including:</p>
  531. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  532. <p><em>our overarching concern is to ensure that lawyers clearly understand the consequences (if they did not before) of using artificial intelligence for legal research without checking that research by reference to authoritative sources. This court’s decision not to initiate contempt proceedings in respect of Ms Forey [the lawyer in question] is not a precedent. Lawyers who do not comply with their professional obligations in this respect risk severe sanction.</em></p>
  533. </blockquote>
  534. <p>It will probably take a few “severe sanctions” being meted out to lawyers who use hallucinated precedents without checking them, before the profession starts taking this problem seriously. But the ruling by Sharp is a clear indication that, while English courts are quite happy for lawyers to use AI in their work, they won’t tolerate the errors such systems can produce.</p>
  535. <p><em>Follow me @glynmoody on&nbsp;<a href="https://mastodon.social/@glynmoody" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mastodon</a>&nbsp;and on&nbsp;<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/glynmoody.bsky.social">Bluesky</a>.</em></p>
  536. ]]></content:encoded>
  538. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/13/senior-english-judge-warns-that-lawyers-who-use-ai-must-check-their-legal-citations-thoroughly-or-face-severe-sanction/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  539. <slash:comments>9</slash:comments>
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