WEBVTT
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The Bogosity Podcast,
early and ad-free!
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Become a subscriber at Patreon,
SubscribeStar, or Discord.
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Use the links at donate.bogosity.tv.
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Welcome to the Bogosity Podcast
for the week of April 12 2026,
00:00:29.040 --> 00:00:32.863
the podcast that wants
to hold your ha-a-and.
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This is your host, Shane Killian.
Let's obviate the News of the Bogus.
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One controversy over recent years is gender
reassignment surgery done on minors.
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And the mainstream view has
been if you're against it in any way,
00:00:52.940 --> 00:00:58.860
you're a transphobic fascist who should be killed
on social media and have your Tesla set on fire.
00:00:58.860 --> 00:01:02.940
More recently, we've heard from a lot of
these young people who have come of age,
00:01:02.940 --> 00:01:07.190
and said the gender reassignment
was the worst thing for them—
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some even going so far as to sue the
doctors and even their own parents!
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But now we have good scientific data as well,
thanks to a study published in Acta Pæediatrica.
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This is a study from Finland, where they tracked every
gender-referred adolescent in the country for 25 years.
00:01:26.940 --> 00:01:32.780
And for the most part, gender reassignment
made things worse, not better.
00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:35.580
The study was possible
because Finland referred
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all gender identity reassignments
to two university hospitals,
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and all health information in Finland is
reported to the national health registry.
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I mean, I know I'm not moving to
Finland any time soon! Sheesh...
00:01:50.620 --> 00:01:56.637
But it does allow us to do studies like this,
where a cohort of over 2000 individuals
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was compared to over 16,000
matched population controls.
00:02:01.740 --> 00:02:07.420
The study was led by Professor Riittakerttu
Kaltiala of Tampere University Hospital,
00:02:07.420 --> 00:02:11.260
who has run Finland's youth
gender clinic since 2011.
00:02:11.260 --> 00:02:14.870
This wasn't a small study,
and there were no dropouts.
00:02:14.870 --> 00:02:20.380
It's the full picture throughout
Finland. Every single one.
00:02:20.380 --> 00:02:24.220
There can't be a selection
bias if there's no selection!
00:02:24.220 --> 00:02:33.900
The study found that psychiatric morbidity
increased after referral, from 45.7% to 61.7%,
00:02:33.900 --> 00:02:40.860
whereas the control population actually
saw a slight drop from 15% to 14.6%.
00:02:40.860 --> 00:02:45.343
Among those who underwent gender
reassignment, it was even worse:
00:02:45.344 --> 00:02:54.700
rising 50.9 percentage points for feminizing
reassignment, and 32.9 for masculinizing reassignment.
00:02:54.700 --> 00:02:59.020
They concluded: "After adjusting
for prior psychiatric treatment,
00:02:59.020 --> 00:03:04.386
all gender-referred adolescents had similarly
elevated risks of psychiatric morbidity,
00:03:04.386 --> 00:03:08.852
with hazard ratios approximately three
times higher than female controls
00:03:08.852 --> 00:03:12.046
and five times higher
than male controls.
00:03:12.047 --> 00:03:16.860
Severe psychiatric morbidity is common
among gender-referred adolescents
00:03:16.860 --> 00:03:22.540
and appears to be more prevalent in those
referred after the recent surge in referrals.
00:03:22.540 --> 00:03:28.300
Psychiatric needs do not subside
after medical gender reassignment."
00:03:28.300 --> 00:03:34.460
The surge they're referring to started in
2010, with a tenfold increase in referrals.
00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:37.607
I'll spare you the actual
numbers, but what they show
00:03:37.608 --> 00:03:45.820
is that mental health issues are presenting as
gender identity issues, not the other way around.
00:03:45.820 --> 00:03:53.553
In other words, in a significant number of cases,
the gender identity issues might go away entirely
00:03:53.554 --> 00:03:58.700
if the underlying issue is
successfully treated or managed.
00:03:58.700 --> 00:04:01.722
You don't need me to preach
the moral of this story to you.
00:04:01.723 --> 00:04:04.923
You've figured it out
yourself, just from the data
00:04:04.924 --> 00:04:10.940
and how harshly it goes against the narrative
we've been inundated with for over 15 years.
00:04:10.940 --> 00:04:17.980
The study concluded: "Subsequent to medical GR,
psychiatric treatment needs appear to increase.
00:04:17.980 --> 00:04:25.046
It should be noted that in some individuals, medical GR
appears to be linked to deterioration in mental health.
00:04:25.046 --> 00:04:28.868
The effects of medical GR and
the expectations of the patient
00:04:28.868 --> 00:04:32.504
must be addressed before
commencing the treatment.
00:04:32.505 --> 00:04:38.217
This underscores the need to thoroughly
assess and appropriately treat mental disorders
00:04:38.218 --> 00:04:45.528
among those seeking GR before and after
undergoing irreversible medical treatments.
00:04:45.529 --> 00:04:49.580
Psychiatric needs must
be adequately met."
00:04:49.580 --> 00:04:54.540
And that should always
take priority over politics.
00:04:54.540 --> 00:05:01.180
It's time for science to start forcing the public
policy debate, not the other way around.
00:05:05.228 --> 00:05:09.500
Presenting: the greatest
game this side of Yuggoth!
00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:15.180
You are H.P. Lovecraft's
cat, and your name is Ni***
00:05:15.180 --> 00:05:17.820
...Right. We can't say
that on a podcast.
00:05:17.820 --> 00:05:21.100
Anyway, that's the point:
Your name is a joke.
00:05:21.100 --> 00:05:28.060
So now, you are out for revenge.
You become...the NecronomiCat!
00:05:28.060 --> 00:05:32.220
Using the Necronomicon, you come
to the present day to buy a gat.
00:05:32.220 --> 00:05:34.380
That's a gun. For a cat.
00:05:34.380 --> 00:05:36.140
It's a phat cat gat.
00:05:36.140 --> 00:05:41.020
But the Necronomicon is treacherous,
and it let in Lovecraft's monsters.
00:05:41.020 --> 00:05:44.780
Now, in a crumbling
world, you must fight!
00:05:44.780 --> 00:05:47.180
Build your team, buy guns and armor,
00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:51.740
buy items of dubious legality,
defeat the bosses of each level.
00:05:51.740 --> 00:05:55.100
Then take Lovecraft down!
00:05:55.100 --> 00:06:01.260
Play NecronomiCat! The
link is at cat.bogosity.tv.
00:06:01.260 --> 00:06:05.900
Yeah, we're doing cat.bogosity.tv,
not...that other one.
00:06:05.900 --> 00:06:08.411
What, you want me to get kicked
off the Internet or something?
00:06:13.580 --> 00:06:20.780
The anti-AI movement is literally getting insane,
spilling over into an anti-datacenter movement.
00:06:20.780 --> 00:06:24.860
We've talked about this before. Datacenters
are being built all over the country,
00:06:24.860 --> 00:06:29.820
and the news reports and public policy
discussions make it all about AI,
00:06:29.820 --> 00:06:35.020
even though AI is less than
15% of what datacenters do.
00:06:35.020 --> 00:06:38.220
Most of it is supporting
everything we do today,
00:06:38.220 --> 00:06:42.780
as we run more applications in the
cloud and store more data there.
00:06:42.780 --> 00:06:49.260
Goldman Sachs expects the AI portion
to rise to 27% by the end of 2027,
00:06:49.260 --> 00:06:53.580
so it's growing, but it still won't
be anywhere near a majority.
00:06:53.580 --> 00:06:57.100
If you want to know why all those
datacenters are being built,
00:06:57.100 --> 00:07:01.180
look to your left, look to your
right, then look in the mirror.
00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:07.100
As we've covered before, we're doing more
tasks in the cloud, both personal and corporate,
00:07:07.100 --> 00:07:13.340
and that ultimately saves power compared
to doing it all locally on our own machines.
00:07:13.340 --> 00:07:20.868
We covered how the screeching about power and water
usage is just a ruse from anti-AI neo-Luddites.
00:07:20.868 --> 00:07:24.379
Now, they've officially
gotten violent.
00:07:24.380 --> 00:07:33.420
An Indianapolis council member had 13 bullets fired into
his home while he and his 8-year-old son were asleep.
00:07:33.420 --> 00:07:38.460
A handwritten note that said "No data
centers" was left under the doormat.
00:07:38.460 --> 00:07:44.548
Gibson said, quote: "My son was at home, so
that says a lot about the shooter's inhumanity.
00:07:44.548 --> 00:07:49.504
I would just want to know why.
That reality is deeply unsettling.
00:07:49.504 --> 00:07:57.704
This was not just an attack on my home, but endangered my
child and disrupted the safety of our entire neighborhood.
00:07:57.704 --> 00:08:01.820
I understand that public service can
bring strong opinions and disagreement,
00:08:01.820 --> 00:08:07.260
but violence is never the answer,
especially when it puts families at risk."
00:08:07.260 --> 00:08:13.740
The incident followed a city council meeting where Gibson
and other councilors spoke out in favor of the datacenter.
00:08:13.740 --> 00:08:18.117
Gibson said, quote: "There are real
benefits tied to this development.
00:08:18.117 --> 00:08:23.340
Construction is expected to support
roughly 300 jobs over a three-year period."
00:08:23.340 --> 00:08:27.980
Councilors also pointed out how the
datacenter will bring revenue to the local area.
00:08:27.980 --> 00:08:30.940
The news media made a
big deal out of the fact that,
00:08:30.940 --> 00:08:36.780
when attendants were asked to stand up if they
were against the project, most of them stood up.
00:08:36.780 --> 00:08:44.296
What they didn't tell you, that's easily visible on
the video, is that these were sign-carrying protesters.
00:08:44.297 --> 00:08:47.260
That was arranged on the back-end!
00:08:47.260 --> 00:08:51.340
Whereas people who are in favor
of such projects or just don't care
00:08:51.340 --> 00:08:54.860
generally don't show up.
Always remember that.
00:08:54.860 --> 00:09:01.500
That's an effect that always gives the neo-Luddites
and other obstructionists an advantage.
00:09:01.500 --> 00:09:08.540
The datacenter will be built on a site that's been unused
for 40 years. No one will lose homes or businesses.
00:09:08.540 --> 00:09:13.420
And there was no comparison of how much
power and water a datacenter would use
00:09:13.420 --> 00:09:18.860
as opposed to, say, an apartment complex
or an office block built on that property.
00:09:18.860 --> 00:09:21.616
Meanwhile, politicians such as AOC,
00:09:21.617 --> 00:09:27.140
after doing everything they can to disrupt
and mismanage our energy system,
00:09:27.141 --> 00:09:31.660
are now blaming the increase
in energy prices on AI.
00:09:31.660 --> 00:09:35.020
Datacenters are just
the latest 5G hysteria,
00:09:35.020 --> 00:09:41.740
from the same people that burned Teslas and
set businesses on fire in the "Summer of Love."
00:09:41.740 --> 00:09:44.700
While they give lip service
against the violence,
00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:50.633
the news media does nothing to abate the
violence or even ask why it's really happening—
00:09:50.633 --> 00:09:56.220
in fact, it does just the opposite
by giving them the spotlight.
00:09:56.220 --> 00:10:04.460
This is utter insanity, and unless we have more voices
of reason speaking out, this will likely get worse.
00:10:04.460 --> 00:10:07.580
Datacenters are not your enemy.
00:10:07.580 --> 00:10:13.220
People opposing AI and nuclear power
and other technological marvels are.
00:10:18.940 --> 00:10:23.100
I'm Brother Ezekiel, and I know
how naughty thou hast been!
00:10:23.100 --> 00:10:25.980
So naughty, thou needst a VPN!
00:10:25.980 --> 00:10:32.540
Hide thy iniquity from prying eyes, and make
sure the liturgical authorities remain ignorant.
00:10:32.540 --> 00:10:38.220
Take thy browser to
vpn.bogosity.tv to get BoxPN.
00:10:38.220 --> 00:10:42.860
At $6.36 a month, a price only
the most penurious would balk at,
00:10:42.860 --> 00:10:47.660
thou shalt have unlimited high-speed
connections to servers all over the globe.
00:10:47.660 --> 00:10:51.740
And they don't log connections.
Thy privacy is assured.
00:10:51.740 --> 00:10:53.420
That should please you sinners!
00:10:53.420 --> 00:10:55.980
Just remember: the Lord sees all!
00:10:55.980 --> 00:10:59.340
When travelling, make it
look like thou art still home.
00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:03.420
At home, ensure the elders at
your ISP don't take out their
00:11:03.420 --> 00:11:07.500
judgement with traffic-shaping
and DMCA notices!
00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:13.340
Up to 5 devices can connect at once,
almost one for every deadly sin!
00:11:13.340 --> 00:11:18.984
Keep thy sins private.
Go to vpn.bogosity.tv.
00:11:24.537 --> 00:11:27.429
And we have another
infringement verdict wiped out
00:11:27.430 --> 00:11:31.497
as a result of the Supreme Court's
recent decision in Cox v. Sony.
00:11:31.500 --> 00:11:36.922
In a case that was almost identical, Warner,
Sony, and other big players in the music cartel
00:11:36.923 --> 00:11:39.634
sued ISP Grande Communications
00:11:39.635 --> 00:11:44.780
because they didn't do enough to terminate
subscribers they claimed were pirating.
00:11:44.780 --> 00:11:48.860
They claimed they sent over a million
copyright infringement notices,
00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:53.340
but Grande failed to terminate
even a single subscriber.
00:11:53.340 --> 00:11:57.669
They wouldn't shut off the
entire Internet access of a
00:11:57.670 --> 00:12:02.202
family or business or college
campus or hospital or whatever,
00:12:02.203 --> 00:12:06.300
because the content
cartels told them a rumor.
00:12:06.300 --> 00:12:14.060
The trial lasted more than two weeks and Grande was
found liable and ordered to pay $47 million in damages.
00:12:14.060 --> 00:12:19.500
The verdict was confirmed by the Fifth Circuit,
but they did order a new trial on damages.
00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:23.199
Last year, Grande petitioned
the Supreme Court for review,
00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:27.616
saying that the Fifth Circuit's ruling was
squarely at odds with Supreme Court precedent,
00:12:27.617 --> 00:12:30.940
using pretty much the
same arguments as Cox.
00:12:30.940 --> 00:12:36.140
As the Supreme Court recently ruled, mere
knowledge is not enough for scienter,
00:12:36.140 --> 00:12:39.260
or the intent to commit
an act of infringement.
00:12:39.260 --> 00:12:45.740
That requires either active participation in or
encouragement of the act of infringement.
00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:49.580
Earlier this week, in their
order list, the top item read:
00:12:49.580 --> 00:12:53.784
"Grande Communications Networks
v. UMG Recordings, Inc., et al.
00:12:53.784 --> 00:12:56.873
The petition for a writ
of certiorari is granted.
00:12:56.874 --> 00:13:03.740
The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to
the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
00:13:03.741 --> 00:13:09.722
for further consideration in light of Cox
Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment."
00:13:09.722 --> 00:13:14.460
So, go back and try again,
and get it right this time!
00:13:14.460 --> 00:13:21.256
The Fifth Circuit now has to figure out if Grande's conduct
meets the much higher intent threshold established in Cox,
00:13:21.257 --> 00:13:25.020
the one that the Copyright
Act always said applied.
00:13:25.020 --> 00:13:28.060
They're going to have to
prove active inducement,
00:13:28.060 --> 00:13:33.020
which is gonna be difficult because
the content cartel didn't even allege it!
00:13:33.020 --> 00:13:39.900
Also, we can pretty much predict that this will mean the
death knell of the RIAA's case against Verizon as well.
00:13:39.900 --> 00:13:44.620
Hopefully, it'll go beyond that and apply
to cases against social media companies,
00:13:44.620 --> 00:13:50.940
cloud storage companies, datacenters, hosting
providers, AI companies, and many others as well.
00:13:50.940 --> 00:13:54.251
Of course, what it almost
certainly won't mean
00:13:54.252 --> 00:14:00.317
is the elimination of corporatist, mercantilist
cartels like the RIAA to begin with,
00:14:00.317 --> 00:14:07.100
even though the whole point of antitrust laws
is that organizations like them shouldn't exist.
00:14:07.100 --> 00:14:13.900
As long as they and the MPA and all the others
are around, you know antitrust is just a fraud,
00:14:13.900 --> 00:14:18.300
an excuse to protect the crony
industries from competition.
00:14:18.300 --> 00:14:22.811
Still, Cox was a major blow to
them, and a welcome one as well.
00:14:29.260 --> 00:14:32.780
I want to tell you about the eyeglasses
I've been wearing for years.
00:14:32.780 --> 00:14:36.300
As people can see on my videos,
I have a very strong prescription,
00:14:36.300 --> 00:14:40.300
which makes glasses more expensive,
especially when I need computer glasses,
00:14:40.300 --> 00:14:42.620
reading glasses,
prescription sunglasses,
00:14:42.620 --> 00:14:47.260
and most expensively, progressive
lenses for general everyday wear.
00:14:47.260 --> 00:14:51.660
To save money while still getting
quality glasses, I get them from Firmoo.
00:14:51.660 --> 00:14:55.740
In fact, I just got a pair of progressives
with high index aspherical lenses
00:14:55.740 --> 00:14:59.980
in a nice pair of frames my
wife loves, for just over $100.
00:14:59.980 --> 00:15:03.260
It would have been $500 to get
them through my eye doctor.
00:15:03.260 --> 00:15:05.980
Not only do they look good,
the glasses are durable.
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I've worn many pairs for several
years without problems.
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All orders come with a
30-day return policy,
00:15:12.140 --> 00:15:15.740
a 3-month warranty, and
one-on-one customer service.
00:15:15.740 --> 00:15:24.460
Go to firmoo.bogosity.tv any time you
need quality glasses at a low price.
00:15:24.460 --> 00:15:29.015
Once again, that's
firmoo.bogosity.tv.
00:15:37.180 --> 00:15:42.620
And now it's time to overtechnicalize
this week's Biggest Bogon Emitter.
00:15:42.620 --> 00:15:47.420
So this one is Catch-22 meets
The Trial meets Sisyphus.
00:15:47.420 --> 00:15:50.860
Yeah, who else would
it be but Microsoft?
00:15:50.860 --> 00:15:55.740
Two leading open source figures were
inexplicably locked out of their accounts,
00:15:55.740 --> 00:15:59.500
with no warning and no
response from Microsoft.
00:15:59.500 --> 00:16:04.540
Oh, and they just happen to be
competing with Microsoft software.
00:16:04.540 --> 00:16:09.846
Mounir Idrassi, the developer of VeraCrypt,
which competes directly with Bitlocker
00:16:09.846 --> 00:16:14.140
(and does a much better job),
posted a statement to SourceForge:
00:16:14.140 --> 00:16:17.340
"I have encountered some
challenges but the most serious one
00:16:17.341 --> 00:16:23.762
is that Microsoft terminated the account I have used
for years to sign Windows drivers and the bootloader.
00:16:23.762 --> 00:16:27.962
Microsoft did not send me
any emails or prior warnings.
00:16:27.962 --> 00:16:35.180
I have received no explanation for the termination and
their message indicates that no appeal is possible.
00:16:35.180 --> 00:16:41.784
I have tried to contact Microsoft through various channels
but I have only received automated replies and bots.
00:16:41.785 --> 00:16:44.317
I was unable to reach a human.
00:16:44.318 --> 00:16:50.341
This termination impacts my work beyond
VeraCrypt and has consequences for my daily job.
00:16:50.342 --> 00:16:53.020
Currently I'm out of options."
00:16:53.020 --> 00:16:59.820
A week later, he told The Register that he was still
locked out and hadn't heard anything from Microsoft.
00:16:59.820 --> 00:17:06.940
The second is Jason Donenfeld, developer of
WireGuard, which directly competes with Azure.
00:17:06.940 --> 00:17:10.300
Responding to Idrassi's post
on Hacker News, he wrote:
00:17:10.300 --> 00:17:16.475
"This is the same problem I'm currently facing
with WireGuard. No warning at all, no notification.
00:17:16.475 --> 00:17:21.186
One day I sign in to publish an update,
and yikes, account suspended.
00:17:21.186 --> 00:17:25.941
Currently undergoing some sort of 60
days appeals process, but who knows.
00:17:25.941 --> 00:17:30.380
That's kind of crazy: what if there
were some critical RCE in WireGuard,
00:17:30.380 --> 00:17:34.741
being exploited in the wild, and I
needed to update users immediately?
00:17:34.741 --> 00:17:37.452
(That's just hypothetical;
don't freak out!)
00:17:37.453 --> 00:17:41.820
In that case, Microsoft would
have my hands entirely tied."
00:17:41.820 --> 00:17:47.500
He told The Register, quote: "As somebody on
Hacker News noted, if someone was a bad actor,
00:17:47.500 --> 00:17:52.060
right now would be a pretty good time to
start exploiting zero days in WireGuard.
00:17:52.060 --> 00:17:57.900
I mean, hopefully there aren't zero days in
WireGuard. But if there were, Jiminy Cricket!"
00:17:57.900 --> 00:18:01.900
He said his saga has been going
on for two weeks, and said, quote:
00:18:01.900 --> 00:18:05.615
"I got a new super expensive
EV code signing certificate—
00:18:05.615 --> 00:18:09.304
this Microsoft requirement is
kind of a racket in its own right—
00:18:09.305 --> 00:18:12.016
and I was ready to log
in to the Partner Portal
00:18:12.017 --> 00:18:16.860
and submit my signed package and driver
to Microsoft for automated inspection,
00:18:16.860 --> 00:18:22.482
which usually results in a Microsoft signature
required for loading drivers into the kernel."
00:18:22.482 --> 00:18:28.140
And that was when he found out—the
hard way—that he'd been locked out.
00:18:28.140 --> 00:18:34.860
He found the place where he needed to file the
appeal... but it requires he be logged into his account.
00:18:34.860 --> 00:18:38.260
In fact, the only way they got
any movement on this at all
00:18:38.260 --> 00:18:42.460
was the controversy that boiled
up online and in the tech media.
00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:45.260
Microsoft's Pavan Davuluri Xed:
00:18:45.260 --> 00:18:50.193
"We've seen these reports and are actively
working to resolve this as quickly as possible.
00:18:50.193 --> 00:18:56.780
We've reached out to VeraCrypt and have spoken to Jason
at WireGuard, they should be back up and running soon."
00:18:56.780 --> 00:19:03.260
Yeah... but what about all the little guys who have
this happen to them but don't get the attention online?
00:19:03.260 --> 00:19:05.349
His excuse was, quote:
00:19:05.350 --> 00:19:11.259
"This is all part of our ongoing efforts to help
protect customers and the Windows ecosystem.
00:19:11.259 --> 00:19:17.740
We worked hard to make sure partners understood
this was coming, from emails, banners, reminders."
00:19:17.740 --> 00:19:21.340
Except, the developers never
received any such thing.
00:19:21.340 --> 00:19:26.461
OSRDrivers confirmed, quote:
"With respect that's pure nonsense.
00:19:26.461 --> 00:19:33.505
First, a blog post is not reasonable notice to a
finite list of companies many of whose customers—
00:19:33.506 --> 00:19:38.484
some in critical situations—depend
on their ability to sign drivers.
00:19:38.484 --> 00:19:44.220
Next, when we logged on in October and saw
the banner, found our signing access restricted,
00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:49.708
we immediately completed the verification
process and were once again able to sign drivers.
00:19:49.708 --> 00:19:57.260
Then, suddenly and with no notice or warning, as we
were preparing to release an update for our customers,
00:19:57.260 --> 00:20:01.016
we discovered we didn't have
signing access anymore.
00:20:01.017 --> 00:20:04.660
All the domain admins in
OSR didn't miss the email.
00:20:04.660 --> 00:20:10.392
It was either never sent, or it never got
to our M365-hosted Outlook inboxes.
00:20:10.392 --> 00:20:18.140
Finally, directing people to a generic support page
that asks you to engage with a chat bot is insulting.
00:20:18.140 --> 00:20:21.562
This problem is waaaay
beyond that level.
00:20:21.563 --> 00:20:27.496
There are multiple, well known, reputable,
companies that have been impacted the same way.
00:20:27.497 --> 00:20:35.808
It's not just us here at OSR. Telling us 'it's not us,
it's you... yes, all of you... and you, and you..."
00:20:35.809 --> 00:20:38.780
just doesn't seem too
credible, you know?"
00:20:38.780 --> 00:20:46.246
They had been suddenly locked out after over
30 years of reliably signing Windows drivers.
00:20:46.246 --> 00:20:50.647
Now consider that Microsoft has
been working to make it mandatory
00:20:50.648 --> 00:20:54.540
to log in to your Microsoft
account to access Windows.
00:20:54.540 --> 00:20:59.100
On your own machine. That you paid for.
00:20:59.100 --> 00:21:02.220
Imagine being locked out of
your own machine for 90 days,
00:21:02.220 --> 00:21:08.300
or maybe even permanently, without even
being told why or even that it happened!
00:21:08.300 --> 00:21:12.220
Oh, you think you're gonna ditch
Microsoft forever and go to Linux?
00:21:12.220 --> 00:21:16.860
Need I remind you who is in charge
of all the SecureBoot certificates?
00:21:16.860 --> 00:21:23.477
So, your favorite Linux distro's developer wakes up
one morning to update his certificate, gets locked out,
00:21:23.477 --> 00:21:31.660
and the certificate expires leaving all of their
users—including you—locked out of your machines!
00:21:31.660 --> 00:21:36.660
I don't think this is even a question of whether
or not this is incompetence rather than malice.
00:21:36.660 --> 00:21:41.020
At some point, there becomes
no difference between the two.
00:21:41.020 --> 00:21:45.104
So all of that makes Microsoft this
week's Biggest Bogon Emitter.
00:21:57.500 --> 00:22:06.500
And now let's overexaggerationalizationalify
this week's Idiot Extraordinaire.
00:22:08.380 --> 00:22:11.820
Know how everydamnthing's
addictive these days?
00:22:11.820 --> 00:22:16.335
Yeah, the Massachusetts state supreme
court just decided unanimously
00:22:16.335 --> 00:22:20.757
that Instagram is addictive and Meta
can be sued by the Commonwealth,
00:22:20.757 --> 00:22:28.300
even though they haven't been shown to have violated any
state law and no one cares about the First Amendment or § 230.
00:22:28.300 --> 00:22:29.500
They ruled:
00:22:29.500 --> 00:22:35.122
"The Commonwealth alleges that Meta Platforms,
Inc., and Instagram, LLC (collectively, Meta),
00:22:35.122 --> 00:22:43.166
engaged in unfair business practices by designing the
Instagram platform to induce compulsive use by children,
00:22:43.167 --> 00:22:50.460
engaged in deceptive business practices by deliberately
misleading the public about the safety of the platform,
00:22:50.460 --> 00:22:57.020
and created a public nuisance by engaging
in these unfair and deceptive practices."
00:22:57.020 --> 00:23:02.060
They got around all of that by
making it about conduct, not speech:
00:23:02.060 --> 00:23:07.500
"The claims do not seek to impose liability on
Meta for information provided by third parties.
00:23:07.500 --> 00:23:11.700
Instead, the claims allege harm
stemming from Meta's own conduct
00:23:11.701 --> 00:23:19.278
by designing a social media platform that capitalizes
on the developmental vulnerabilities of children.
00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:22.168
At least at this preliminary
stage of the litigation,
00:23:22.169 --> 00:23:28.154
Meta has not shown it is entitled to
the protection provided by § 230(c)(1).
00:23:28.155 --> 00:23:34.910
The challenged design features (e.g., infinite
scroll, autoplay, IVR, and ephemeral content)
00:23:34.910 --> 00:23:39.636
concern how, whether, and for
how long information is published,
00:23:39.637 --> 00:23:44.858
but the published information itself is
not the source of the harm alleged.
00:23:44.859 --> 00:23:49.792
Instead, the claim alleges that the features
themselves induce compulsive use
00:23:49.793 --> 00:23:53.980
independent of the content
provided by third-party users."
00:23:53.980 --> 00:23:58.002
And to top it all off, they even
sounded off a huge signal
00:23:58.003 --> 00:24:03.624
that age verification should be a strict
standard for websites, browsers, and OSes,
00:24:03.625 --> 00:24:10.780
by basically declaring that if the age verification isn't
up to scratch, then the service can be held liable, quote:
00:24:10.780 --> 00:24:15.113
"Here, the Commonwealth asserts that
the defective age verification features
00:24:15.114 --> 00:24:17.980
give rise to heightened
harm to underage users
00:24:17.980 --> 00:24:23.020
who are particularly vulnerable to the
design features challenged in count I.
00:24:23.020 --> 00:24:28.700
The Commonwealth does not allege harm stemming
from the content of any information published."
00:24:28.700 --> 00:24:36.940
So, it's not even about nudie pictures or anything. We
have to protect the children from infinite scrolling!
00:24:36.940 --> 00:24:40.740
But...minors have First
Amendment rights, too.
00:24:40.740 --> 00:24:45.900
That's another thing that's being neglected here:
this isn't just about Meta's First Amendment rights,
00:24:45.900 --> 00:24:48.700
but the rights of all of
their users as well.
00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:54.367
And the very thing that's gotten them in trouble—
the fact that people spend a lot of time on the app—
00:24:54.368 --> 00:25:02.140
is what lets us know that the people do desire to
receive the protected speech of the people posting it!
00:25:02.140 --> 00:25:08.940
Eugene Vokolh and Jane Bambauer had sent an amicus
brief to the court, which basically went ignored. Quote:
00:25:08.940 --> 00:25:15.007
"Their choices about how to craft and format those products
are presumptively protected by the First Amendment.
00:25:15.008 --> 00:25:19.962
That protection extends to the very features
the Commonwealth demands Meta remove.
00:25:19.962 --> 00:25:26.384
Push notifications, for instance, allow social
media platforms to speak to users about new content.
00:25:26.384 --> 00:25:31.580
Endless scrolling, autoplay, and ephemeral
features let social media platforms
00:25:31.580 --> 00:25:34.736
decide how users see
speech on the platforms,
00:25:34.737 --> 00:25:38.269
just as a newspaper chooses
how to format the front page
00:25:38.270 --> 00:25:42.935
or a film director chooses whether to
break up a movie into multiple episodes.
00:25:42.935 --> 00:25:46.779
Whether these features constitute
Meta's own direct speech,
00:25:46.780 --> 00:25:51.512
or are structural decisions about how
Meta presents third-party speech,
00:25:51.513 --> 00:25:55.980
they stem from constitutionally
protected decisions about where,
00:25:55.980 --> 00:26:02.300
when, and how speech is communicated (and, as to
the 'like' button, what speech is communicated)."
00:26:02.300 --> 00:26:04.780
And that includes minors, quote:
00:26:04.780 --> 00:26:09.824
"Like adults, minors are entitled to a significant
measure of First Amendment protection,
00:26:09.824 --> 00:26:13.580
and only in relatively narrow
and well-defined circumstances
00:26:13.581 --> 00:26:17.913
may government bar public dissemination
of protected materials to them.
00:26:17.914 --> 00:26:23.025
Protected speech cannot be suppressed
solely to protect the young from ideas
00:26:23.026 --> 00:26:27.091
or images that a legislative
body thinks unsuitable for them.
00:26:27.091 --> 00:26:30.700
Brown struck down a restriction
on violent video games,
00:26:30.700 --> 00:26:33.656
regardless of the ideas
the games conveyed.
00:26:33.657 --> 00:26:40.540
The same principle applies to other display and content
features such as autoplay, likes, and endless scrolling."
00:26:40.540 --> 00:26:44.384
And the lawsuit improperly
asks judges and juries
00:26:44.385 --> 00:26:49.820
to second-guess Meta's choices about how
its users communicate with each other.
00:26:49.820 --> 00:26:54.486
If you say, "You can say whatever you
want, but only in the way we want you to,"
00:26:54.486 --> 00:26:59.340
you've violated their First Amendment
rights just as much as any other restriction.
00:26:59.340 --> 00:27:04.740
Quote: "The Commonwealth characterizes Meta's
design features as 'independent of content'
00:27:04.740 --> 00:27:09.405
and therefore not within Moody's
protection. But this is a false distinction.
00:27:09.405 --> 00:27:13.260
By expressing disapproval through
its content moderation policies,
00:27:13.260 --> 00:27:17.526
Meta may approve of and encourage
speech through its design features.
00:27:17.526 --> 00:27:23.326
For example, the 'like' function is a design feature
that helps shape the content of Meta products,
00:27:23.326 --> 00:27:27.390
by adding extra information to
each post (the number of likes),
00:27:27.391 --> 00:27:31.688
by encouraging users to post popular
content that draws more likes,
00:27:31.689 --> 00:27:36.700
and by encouraging users to read more
popular content that has drawn more likes."
00:27:36.700 --> 00:27:39.655
There's nothing about
this that isn't expressive.
00:27:39.655 --> 00:27:48.144
Design is expression. Method of communication
is expression. Format is expression.
00:27:48.144 --> 00:27:53.420
And anyone who read this amicus
brief can see that easily. Quote:
00:27:53.420 --> 00:27:58.109
"The Commonwealth claims the power to regulate
a social media platform's design decisions
00:27:58.110 --> 00:28:01.509
concerning where, when, and
how speech is communicated—
00:28:01.510 --> 00:28:05.197
and in the case of likes, what
speech is communicated.
00:28:05.197 --> 00:28:09.952
But the First Amendment provides protections
against speech-based negligence claims,
00:28:09.952 --> 00:28:12.686
as this Court and other
courts have recognized.
00:28:12.687 --> 00:28:17.109
And the First Amendment also protects
speech producers' expressing their views
00:28:17.110 --> 00:28:20.398
about whether their speech
is valuable and harmful.
00:28:20.398 --> 00:28:27.020
The Commonwealth's attempt to regulate Meta's speech
thus fails heightened First Amendment scrutiny."
00:28:27.020 --> 00:28:34.220
Design isn't just a technical thing. It's a vital part
of how communication happens and how effective it is.
00:28:34.220 --> 00:28:38.780
You don't get to sue
someone just for doing it well.
00:28:38.780 --> 00:28:45.842
So all of that makes the Massachusetts
Supreme Court this week's Idiot Extraordinaire.
00:28:51.580 --> 00:28:56.291
Well, that wraps up this "I haven't seen anything
like this since the Anita Bryant concert"
00:28:56.291 --> 00:28:59.202
edition of the Bogosity
Podcast. I hope you enjoyed it;
00:28:59.203 --> 00:29:02.980
if you did, please go to donate.bogosity.tv
for several ways to support,
00:29:02.981 --> 00:29:06.459
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00:29:06.460 --> 00:29:11.340
Subscribe at the Discord, Patreon, or
SubscribeStar and you can listen early and ad-free.
00:29:11.340 --> 00:29:15.660
Thank you for listening. Until next time,
here's a quote from Lawrence Lessig:
00:29:15.660 --> 00:29:23.340
"Law and technology produce, together, a kind of
regulation of creativity we've not seen before."
00:29:23.340 --> 00:29:27.500
The Bogosity Podcast is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
00:29:27.500 --> 00:29:29.770
4.0 International license.