7 ms·

Mind-Melting Decision Proves a Dialer Can Never Be Too Old to Be an ATDS

87 points by guerrilla 6y ago

thrill 6y ago
The website that this blog post discusses would have made MySpace proud during its heyday.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
  Can you imagine if Mark Twain or Dave Barry covered the story?
- linspace 6y ago
  And this is why we need AI: to parse and extract information from webpages that are too dangerous for a sane human to read.
visviva 6y ago
I'm glad I was so confounded by the title that I had to click - that was a fun read.
Topgamer7 6y ago
I certainly hope I never tweak the screw that is loose in someones head to harass me on a daily basis like this nutjob.
- linspace 6y ago
  For me this is a perk of working mainly with computers and not face to face.
ear7h 6y ago
If anyone is curious about the why: Mort Sullivan's Personal Opinion That McDonald's Is Located In The Area, And Would You Like To Eat Food With Ambient Air In The Area Of Surrounding Properties, And We Will Putting Up Signs & Asbestos Tape Around McDonald's On The Sullivan Trust Property, Where The Manager Called The Police On Mort Sullivan For Cutting The Grass On The Sullivan Trust Property, And Everyone Can See The Picture Below Showing Area! If I understand this correctly, the McDonalds manager called the cops on Mort and then Mort fired back by filing a suit regarding lead and asbestos on the area. I'm not sure how Bucky got involved though.
- paxswill 6y ago
  I think reading from the bottom will give you the chronological order. Also, skipping over phrases like, “Mort Sullivan's Personal Opinion That...” helps a lot (that phrase, along with registering himself as an LLC is giving me strong sovcit vibes). As to what actually started this, it looks like there was a landfill with alleged hazmat in it, but there wasn’t a lawsuit filed in time (under the Clean Water Act? Because there’s an underground stream that flows into the Missouri River?) to make the original polluters clean it up. Mort believes that because Bucky’s, the McDonalds, and other companies (see the expanding list of real estate developers on his list) are now developing the area (and digging basements into the landfill) the timer for a Clean Water Act lawsuit has restarted. He cares as his property is next to the former landfill.
  - jcranmer 6y ago
    That's generally my gist as well, although I'm not certain on the actual existence of the landfill, let alone what may or may not have been dumped into it. It's really hard to understand, because this is clearly a vexatious litigant who seems to believe that the law is a set of magic incantations to let him do what he wants (not unlike the sovereign citizen bullcrap you allude to). And the fact that he's dragging anyone remotely connected to the location into it makes it even harder.
    - zebraflask 6y ago
cbanek 6y ago
This is why I don't mess with crazy.
korse 6y ago
Can someone point me to the court documents?
SpaceManNabs 6y ago
I am a little confused by the title. It is certainly an entertaining claim and argument by Mort, but it seems that the court decided quite reasonably (and the author says so?).
juliend2 6y ago
I love the Hacker News-targetted preface: Editor’s Note: Welcome Hackers! Not sure how Hacker News found this article but I see a ton of folks headed in from that website, which I presume is some sort of aggregator for news articles of interest to folks that like to hack stuff. Feel free to have a look around the website–check out our cool podcast–and tell any friends that might like this nerdy stuff. But don’t hack anything please. Thanks.
- sharkmerry 6y ago
  the thought of the day references hacker news as well Eric’s Thought of the Day Hacker News >> Google News At least when it comes to driving traffic to tcpaworld.com. Eesh.
- annoyingnoob 6y ago
  > But don’t hack anything please. Thanks. For that definition of 'hacker' I'm not sure that asking nicely is helpful. I wouldn't expect many folks here to be interested in 'hacking' that site.
thaumasiotes 6y ago
> Mort finished his motion to dismiss with a claim that the TCPA only applies to telemarketing harassment, not good-ole-fashioned harassment harassment. No dice. The Court looks at the words of the statute and cannot find the “I just want to abuse people out of spite” TCPA exemption. Very relevant to the argument that all modern cell phones (as well as things like decidedly outdated handsets with speed dial) are in fact automatic dialing systems, and therefore everyone who places a call or sends a message using their cell phone is in violation of the law. Doesn't matter how you use the device, just that the device meets the definition.
yongjik 6y ago
> Mort finished his motion to dismiss with a claim that the TCPA only applies to telemarketing harassment, not good-ole-fashioned harassment harassment. Ah, the good old-fashioned "I wasn't taking advantage of him, I was just being an asshole for being an asshole's sake!" defense. How refreshing.
- thaumasiotes 6y ago
  Seriously, the defense is "I wasn't calling him as part of my illegal scheme to call everybody with a phone number, I was calling him specifically because I hate him personally". The offense is dialing someone using an automatic dialing system; the defense is perfectly plausible.
  - 737maxtw 6y ago
    Yeah but the slope gets slippery fast... Because in the past, some courts have ruled that ADTS systems are in violation even if their qualifying functions are unused. Iow even id a dependent manually entered numbers, it would still be illegal to make the call. And yes, this has made TCPA rulings a subject worthy of its own blog, the situation is such a mess.
throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
Is there some kind of template to make such a 1990's website https://buckysgasstationsucks.com/ https://buckysgasstationsucks.com/ with it's bizarro little animations and clipart? It's so very anachronistic (yet strangely readable I must add). I don't think I've seen anything like it since ages past.
- 83457 6y ago
  Go to File > Templates and find "Modern World Wide Web Site" in FrontPage 97.
  - guerrilla 6y ago
    In case you need FrontPage 97, it is archived here [1] [1]. https://winworldpc.com/product/microsoft-frontpage/97-v2 https://winworldpc.com/product/microsoft-frontpage/97-v2
- viraptor 6y ago
  It reminded me of the famous time cube website: https://timecube.2enp.com/ https://timecube.2enp.com/
  - bluu00 6y ago
    heyyy, you gotta spare some time explaining that to me. what is that? Read half of it and now i am confused af
    - geocrasher 6y ago
      You can say that again. And again. And again. And again.
    - viraptor 6y ago
      I've seen it grow and I still don't understand. It's got a Wikipedia article about it though https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Cube https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Cube
annoyingnoob 6y ago
Leave it to lawyers to figure that 'Hacker News' is a bad guy collective. Good thing that Wikipedia is here to help: Reflecting the two types of hackers, there are two definitions of the word "hacker": 1. An adherent of the technology and programming subculture; see hacker culture. 2. Someone who is able to subvert computer security. If doing so for malicious purposes, the person can also be called a cracker.
- xwdv 6y ago
  There are some pretty bad guys around here so it's not entirely wrong.
  - andbberger 6y ago
    It is a capitalist forum after all, a space to worship assholes and publish some dangerously spicy takes on poverty and homelessness. Sorry about your property value!!
- EE84M3i 6y ago
  "Editor’s Note: Welcome Hackers! Not sure how Hacker News found this article but I see a ton of folks headed in from that website, which I presume is some sort of aggregator for news articles of interest to folks that like to hack stuff. Feel free to have a look around the website–check out our cool podcast–and tell any friends that might like this nerdy stuff. But don’t hack anything please. Thanks. " I read it more as a joke
  - annoyingnoob 6y ago
    > which I presume is some sort of aggregator for news articles of interest to folks that like to hack stuff Its the presumption that makes me think its not a joke but a misunderstanding.
    - smegcicle 6y ago
      That's pretty presumptuous for something that is obviously a cautious joke
cyansmoker 6y ago
I took the liberty of leaving a friendly comment. Of course, now through the magic of Gravatar it looks like I'm talking on behalf of the entire HN community when my comment was merely tongue in cheek. Oh, well.

87 points by guerrilla 6y ago

thrill 6y ago

The website that this blog post discusses would have made MySpace proud during its heyday.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
Can you imagine if Mark Twain or Dave Barry covered the story?
linspace 6y ago
And this is why we need AI: to parse and extract information from webpages that are too dangerous for a sane human to read.

visviva 6y ago

I'm glad I was so confounded by the title that I had to click - that was a fun read.

Topgamer7 6y ago

I certainly hope I never tweak the screw that is loose in someones head to harass me on a daily basis like this nutjob.

linspace 6y ago
For me this is a perk of working mainly with computers and not face to face.

ear7h 6y ago

If anyone is curious about the why: Mort Sullivan's Personal Opinion That McDonald's Is Located In The Area, And Would You Like To Eat Food With Ambient Air In The Area Of Surrounding Properties, And We Will Putting Up Signs & Asbestos Tape Around McDonald's On The Sullivan Trust Property, Where The Manager Called The Police On Mort Sullivan For Cutting The Grass On The Sullivan Trust Property, And Everyone Can See The Picture Below Showing Area! If I understand this correctly, the McDonalds manager called the cops on Mort and then Mort fired back by filing a suit regarding lead and asbestos on the area. I'm not sure how Bucky got involved though.

paxswill 6y ago
I think reading from the bottom will give you the chronological order. Also, skipping over phrases like, “Mort Sullivan's Personal Opinion That...” helps a lot (that phrase, along with registering himself as an LLC is giving me strong sovcit vibes). As to what actually started this, it looks like there was a landfill with alleged hazmat in it, but there wasn’t a lawsuit filed in time (under the Clean Water Act? Because there’s an underground stream that flows into the Missouri River?) to make the original polluters clean it up. Mort believes that because Bucky’s, the McDonalds, and other companies (see the expanding list of real estate developers on his list) are now developing the area (and digging basements into the landfill) the timer for a Clean Water Act lawsuit has restarted. He cares as his property is next to the former landfill.
- jcranmer 6y ago
  That's generally my gist as well, although I'm not certain on the actual existence of the landfill, let alone what may or may not have been dumped into it. It's really hard to understand, because this is clearly a vexatious litigant who seems to believe that the law is a set of magic incantations to let him do what he wants (not unlike the sovereign citizen bullcrap you allude to). And the fact that he's dragging anyone remotely connected to the location into it makes it even harder.
  - zebraflask 6y ago

cbanek 6y ago

This is why I don't mess with crazy.

korse 6y ago

Can someone point me to the court documents?

SpaceManNabs 6y ago

I am a little confused by the title. It is certainly an entertaining claim and argument by Mort, but it seems that the court decided quite reasonably (and the author says so?).

juliend2 6y ago

I love the Hacker News-targetted preface: Editor’s Note: Welcome Hackers! Not sure how Hacker News found this article but I see a ton of folks headed in from that website, which I presume is some sort of aggregator for news articles of interest to folks that like to hack stuff. Feel free to have a look around the website–check out our cool podcast–and tell any friends that might like this nerdy stuff. But don’t hack anything please. Thanks.

sharkmerry 6y ago
the thought of the day references hacker news as well Eric’s Thought of the Day Hacker News >> Google News At least when it comes to driving traffic to tcpaworld.com. Eesh.
annoyingnoob 6y ago
> But don’t hack anything please. Thanks. For that definition of 'hacker' I'm not sure that asking nicely is helpful. I wouldn't expect many folks here to be interested in 'hacking' that site.

thaumasiotes 6y ago

> Mort finished his motion to dismiss with a claim that the TCPA only applies to telemarketing harassment, not good-ole-fashioned harassment harassment. No dice. The Court looks at the words of the statute and cannot find the “I just want to abuse people out of spite” TCPA exemption. Very relevant to the argument that all modern cell phones (as well as things like decidedly outdated handsets with speed dial) are in fact automatic dialing systems, and therefore everyone who places a call or sends a message using their cell phone is in violation of the law. Doesn't matter how you use the device, just that the device meets the definition.

yongjik 6y ago

> Mort finished his motion to dismiss with a claim that the TCPA only applies to telemarketing harassment, not good-ole-fashioned harassment harassment. Ah, the good old-fashioned "I wasn't taking advantage of him, I was just being an asshole for being an asshole's sake!" defense. How refreshing.

thaumasiotes 6y ago
Seriously, the defense is "I wasn't calling him as part of my illegal scheme to call everybody with a phone number, I was calling him specifically because I hate him personally". The offense is dialing someone using an automatic dialing system; the defense is perfectly plausible.
- 737maxtw 6y ago
  Yeah but the slope gets slippery fast... Because in the past, some courts have ruled that ADTS systems are in violation even if their qualifying functions are unused. Iow even id a dependent manually entered numbers, it would still be illegal to make the call. And yes, this has made TCPA rulings a subject worthy of its own blog, the situation is such a mess.

throwaway_pdp09 6y ago

Is there some kind of template to make such a 1990's website https://buckysgasstationsucks.com/ https://buckysgasstationsucks.com/ with it's bizarro little animations and clipart? It's so very anachronistic (yet strangely readable I must add). I don't think I've seen anything like it since ages past.

83457 6y ago
Go to File > Templates and find "Modern World Wide Web Site" in FrontPage 97.
- guerrilla 6y ago
  In case you need FrontPage 97, it is archived here [1] [1]. https://winworldpc.com/product/microsoft-frontpage/97-v2 https://winworldpc.com/product/microsoft-frontpage/97-v2
viraptor 6y ago
It reminded me of the famous time cube website: https://timecube.2enp.com/ https://timecube.2enp.com/
- bluu00 6y ago
  heyyy, you gotta spare some time explaining that to me. what is that? Read half of it and now i am confused af
  - geocrasher 6y ago
    You can say that again. And again. And again. And again.
  - viraptor 6y ago
    I've seen it grow and I still don't understand. It's got a Wikipedia article about it though https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Cube https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Cube

annoyingnoob 6y ago

Leave it to lawyers to figure that 'Hacker News' is a bad guy collective. Good thing that Wikipedia is here to help: Reflecting the two types of hackers, there are two definitions of the word "hacker": 1. An adherent of the technology and programming subculture; see hacker culture. 2. Someone who is able to subvert computer security. If doing so for malicious purposes, the person can also be called a cracker.

xwdv 6y ago
There are some pretty bad guys around here so it's not entirely wrong.
- andbberger 6y ago
  It is a capitalist forum after all, a space to worship assholes and publish some dangerously spicy takes on poverty and homelessness. Sorry about your property value!!
EE84M3i 6y ago
"Editor’s Note: Welcome Hackers! Not sure how Hacker News found this article but I see a ton of folks headed in from that website, which I presume is some sort of aggregator for news articles of interest to folks that like to hack stuff. Feel free to have a look around the website–check out our cool podcast–and tell any friends that might like this nerdy stuff. But don’t hack anything please. Thanks. " I read it more as a joke
- annoyingnoob 6y ago
  > which I presume is some sort of aggregator for news articles of interest to folks that like to hack stuff Its the presumption that makes me think its not a joke but a misunderstanding.
  - smegcicle 6y ago
    That's pretty presumptuous for something that is obviously a cautious joke

cyansmoker 6y ago

I took the liberty of leaving a friendly comment. Of course, now through the magic of Gravatar it looks like I'm talking on behalf of the entire HN community when my comment was merely tongue in cheek. Oh, well.