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Before I discovered HN (of which I'm on daily), I was a frequent reader of Groklaw[0]- a site primarily devoted to covering the fragile intersection of the tech

Before I discovered HN (of which I'm on daily), I was a frequent reader of Groklaw[0]- a site primarily devoted to covering the fragile intersection of the technology sector and legal system; where the two are often at odds with one another. We're more than a decade beyond it's voluntary closure after the Snowden revelations and it's left a large void on substantive coverage of these issues. The site was the blog of an anonymous tech reporter named Pamela Jones that did detailed deep-dives into the parties & issues involved in high-profile lawsuits between tech companies, like Apple vs. Samsung on the issue of design patents for rounded corners, over what have often been patents containing broad language that resulted in hindrances to innovation ranging from being unwilling to license to extortion of revenue streams for entire product lines. Part of why I find the technology industry to be continually interesting is its desire to innovate instead of litigate- there needs to be a check on bad faith actors whose goal is capture of a niche through regulatory means instead of fair competition; else we get these cases relegated to the infamous eastern district of Texas which has historically played favor towards non-practicing patent trolls. I'll be submitting my comment and suggest others do the same. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groklaw https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groklaw

kregasaurusrex 10mo ago
Oh dear. Its digital tombstone has been relegated to be adware for crypto gambling.
- TrackerFF 10mo ago
  I don't remember the exact name for this marketing strategy, but that's how some of the black- and grey hat marketers made millions upon millions the past decades. One marketer I know made his fortune (as in tens of millions) buying up dead sites, often for dissolved companies / organizations / etc., kept the design somewhat relevant to said entities, but filled the site with ads and referral links to gambling sites / credit cards / etc. And as seen with Groklaw, it still works. Whenever I see some old semi-popular website call it quits, it just takes a couple of months until it becomes a landing or referral page for something crypto.
  - Anamon 10mo ago
    They don't just keep the design, but usually also the content. Prime currency with search engines and not something they could otherwise easily get their hands on. It's what happened with Adventure Gamers, for example. Decades worth of adventure game reviews and interviews still available -- now with a slight thematic shift where new articles are all about "reviewing" online casinos.
- reactordev 10mo ago
  I think this tell you more than you need to know about the state of affairs in tech. Every website eventually becomes a funnel for ad-based shadow companies.
- camkego 10mo ago
  Now that I have seen groklaw.net/about-us page, I have seen it all. Here is the new Groklaw mission statement: Our Mission Our mission is simple: to guide you toward safe, rewarding, and responsible crypto gambling experiences. We believe in transparency, player protection, and giving you the tools to make informed choices — whether you want massive Bitcoin bonuses, ultra-fast withdrawals, or niche altcoin gaming.
NooneAtAll3 10mo ago
why would Snowden reveals cause it to close? "everything is so bad it's hopeless" or smth?
- anonymous908213 10mo ago
  > On August 20, 2013, a final article appeared on Groklaw, explaining that due to pervasive government monitoring of the Internet, there could no longer be an expectation of the sort of privacy online that was necessary to collaborate on sensitive topics. Citing the closure of Lavabit earlier that month, Jones wrote "I can't do Groklaw without your input.... and there is now no private way, evidently, to collaborate." and "What I do know is it's not possible to be fully human if you are being surveilled 24/7... I hope that makes it clear why I can't continue. There is now no shield from forced exposure."
  - Springtime 10mo ago
    Just on the pervasive passive monitoring aspect, I think an under-discussed aspect of the time frame covered in the material of Snowden's leaks is that sites/services by and large wasn't using encrypted protocols (HTTPS). So much could be intercepted back then because of this. It wasn't until 2010 that various large services—including Yahoo Mail and Facebook—got a kick in their ass by a whitehat browser plugin that allowed anyone on the same network to trivially hijack session cookies of others, stimulating an adoption of HTTPS[1] during 2011-2012. By the time the Snowden leaks occurred in 2013 the trend was heading toward encrypted-by-default and governments were having to adapt. [1] https://threatpost.com/facebook-kills-firesheep-new-secure-browsing-feature-012611/74883/ https://threatpost.com/facebook-kills-firesheep-new-secure-b...
    - totetsu 10mo ago
      I thought these “lawful intercept” organisations had their taps inside the data centers after https tsl to the user had already been terminated. And so the infamous ssl removed here slide from prism.
everdev 10mo ago
In Texas, trolls are bigger.
jimmydddd 10mo ago
---innovate instead of litigate. Agreed, but there has to be a balance. In some cases, it could also be looked at as favoring marketers over innovators. On the copyright side, you could also argue about why ChatGPT should have to be slowed down by these copyright trolls (i.e. authors) who want to extract funds from them. Just let them innovate!

kregasaurusrex 10mo ago

Oh dear. Its digital tombstone has been relegated to be adware for crypto gambling.

TrackerFF 10mo ago
I don't remember the exact name for this marketing strategy, but that's how some of the black- and grey hat marketers made millions upon millions the past decades. One marketer I know made his fortune (as in tens of millions) buying up dead sites, often for dissolved companies / organizations / etc., kept the design somewhat relevant to said entities, but filled the site with ads and referral links to gambling sites / credit cards / etc. And as seen with Groklaw, it still works. Whenever I see some old semi-popular website call it quits, it just takes a couple of months until it becomes a landing or referral page for something crypto.
- Anamon 10mo ago
  They don't just keep the design, but usually also the content. Prime currency with search engines and not something they could otherwise easily get their hands on. It's what happened with Adventure Gamers, for example. Decades worth of adventure game reviews and interviews still available -- now with a slight thematic shift where new articles are all about "reviewing" online casinos.
reactordev 10mo ago
I think this tell you more than you need to know about the state of affairs in tech. Every website eventually becomes a funnel for ad-based shadow companies.
camkego 10mo ago
Now that I have seen groklaw.net/about-us page, I have seen it all. Here is the new Groklaw mission statement: Our Mission Our mission is simple: to guide you toward safe, rewarding, and responsible crypto gambling experiences. We believe in transparency, player protection, and giving you the tools to make informed choices — whether you want massive Bitcoin bonuses, ultra-fast withdrawals, or niche altcoin gaming.

NooneAtAll3 10mo ago

why would Snowden reveals cause it to close? "everything is so bad it's hopeless" or smth?

anonymous908213 10mo ago
> On August 20, 2013, a final article appeared on Groklaw, explaining that due to pervasive government monitoring of the Internet, there could no longer be an expectation of the sort of privacy online that was necessary to collaborate on sensitive topics. Citing the closure of Lavabit earlier that month, Jones wrote "I can't do Groklaw without your input.... and there is now no private way, evidently, to collaborate." and "What I do know is it's not possible to be fully human if you are being surveilled 24/7... I hope that makes it clear why I can't continue. There is now no shield from forced exposure."
- Springtime 10mo ago
  Just on the pervasive passive monitoring aspect, I think an under-discussed aspect of the time frame covered in the material of Snowden's leaks is that sites/services by and large wasn't using encrypted protocols (HTTPS). So much could be intercepted back then because of this. It wasn't until 2010 that various large services—including Yahoo Mail and Facebook—got a kick in their ass by a whitehat browser plugin that allowed anyone on the same network to trivially hijack session cookies of others, stimulating an adoption of HTTPS[1] during 2011-2012. By the time the Snowden leaks occurred in 2013 the trend was heading toward encrypted-by-default and governments were having to adapt. [1] https://threatpost.com/facebook-kills-firesheep-new-secure-browsing-feature-012611/74883/ https://threatpost.com/facebook-kills-firesheep-new-secure-b...
  - totetsu 10mo ago
    I thought these “lawful intercept” organisations had their taps inside the data centers after https tsl to the user had already been terminated. And so the infamous ssl removed here slide from prism.

everdev 10mo ago

In Texas, trolls are bigger.

jimmydddd 10mo ago

---innovate instead of litigate. Agreed, but there has to be a balance. In some cases, it could also be looked at as favoring marketers over innovators. On the copyright side, you could also argue about why ChatGPT should have to be slowed down by these copyright trolls (i.e. authors) who want to extract funds from them. Just let them innovate!