Richard Hoeg Profile picture
Business Lawyer | Husband & Father | Stroke Survivor | Virtual Legality - https://t.co/IC9wvvDb3a (100k+ subscribers) | rhoeg@hoeglaw.com | #TweetsNotLegalAdvice
Ellen in Maine Profile picture Patriot Profile picture 3 subscribed
Oct 10, 2022 12 tweets 3 min read
Okay folks, so I've been giving this a lot of thought (you should see my comments!), but unfortunately, I've been forced to come to the conclusion that many of you have been misinformed by folks out to find some "enemies" to fight.

Let's talk about it. So, the main criticism I have seen is that I did not immediately jump to support YouTuber Nick Rekieta after his channel was banned, and as @ThatUmbrella and others have posited that I "backed" the ban.

This is not true, but let's talk about my actual position.
Aug 24, 2022 17 tweets 5 min read
Maybe? The fundamental issue here is the declaration of national emergencies and disaster areas in a manner that many might find...unwarranted. Once you accept that the whole of the US is a disaster area (per our current and prior presidencies) a whole lot of "normal" falls away. So let's look at the law. Basically it says the Secretary (of Ed -- here the President for all practical purposes) can "waive or modify" loans to the extent it deems necessary in connection with a war or emergency to do various things (importantly, this is a limit). Image
Aug 2, 2022 26 tweets 9 min read
This is a truly amazing article (and tweet) in its singular, inescapable mission to present erroneously or incomplete information.

Thankfully it will have limited effects because it's only going out to...9.2 million people.

Oh, we should talk about this. (thread) Fortunately, the very author of this piece has given us instruction on how to "fight back against the modern smear campaign playbook."
Feb 5, 2022 13 tweets 3 min read
Hey, @gofundme, I’m thinking of doing a video on your Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser freeze but I need some help. (Cont.)

medium.com/gofundme-stori… You state in your freeze letter:

“…this fundraiser is now in violation of our Terms of Service (Term 8, which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment)…”
Feb 4, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read
Dying Light 2 EULA: Section 6(i)

“Only use the Program for your personal enjoyment and not for any commercial or political purposes.”

Hear that folks? No making political statements with this zombie game! I don’t care if it features vaccines or pandemics. :) Oh wow, and they kept all the “this might be a beta” language in there (Section 7). Not harmful necessarily but completely unnecessary on retail release.
Aug 25, 2021 5 tweets 1 min read
The fundamentals here are that California and Activision disagree as to what the law requires to be retained/turned over. You can see that with California calling what Activision claims as privileged as merely “attorney involved”. Similarly, the document destruction looks bad because California is framing the documents as related to the case/complaints, but Activision’s claim is that they are not. Could Activision be lying? Absolutely, but…
May 30, 2021 12 tweets 3 min read
This piece is wrong in that it completely misses the distinction between “society” and “government” (not to mention in treating a bureaucracy’s unelected officials as emblematic of “democracy” itself.)

That said, it’s a common erroneous conflation and one I may discuss further. Specifically, Mass Effect has a great deal of faith in “people” (or more specifically, individuals). It does not have really any faith in collective action or institutions (including the military). It’s a very 80s media approach to the question (think Ghostbusters and the EPA).
Oct 13, 2020 6 tweets 2 min read
A wild thread here from a famous Internet figure putting a stake in the ground against games and “gamers” because...some folks on a Minecraft server used slurs.

It’s a wild take against a whole industry, but video games (and gamers) get compartmentalized more than others. I’m a gamer of course, and we’ve talked a lot about industry perceptions/reporting in #VirtualLegality, but it’s always interesting to see games in particular get labeled industry-wide for the actions of a few.

You don’t see the same pushback to YouTube comments, for instance.
Oct 6, 2020 7 tweets 2 min read
So, this is a political document (Democrat-led), and should be taken as such, but it is certainly interesting to see a major House committee declare effectively all current Big Tech companies as monopoly abusers in violation of antitrust laws. Most notably in respect of Apple, vast weight is given to arguments made by various members of the “Coalition for App Fairness”, including that Apple’s 30% is too expensive, and that they are illegally restricting access to their own hardware.
Oct 6, 2020 4 tweets 1 min read
A laughable assertion. His authority is expressly limited (outside of prohibiting gatherings) solely to "procedures...to insure continuation of essential public health services and enforcement of [existing] health laws."

Absent a threat to "continuation" there is no authority. The order, for those interested. Difficult to see how application of the non-delegation doctrine that prohibited an elected official's actions in this regard would permit an unelected official's, but I guess that's for the next lawsuit.

michigan.gov/documents/coro…
Jun 19, 2020 13 tweets 10 min read
Here on the eve of #TheLastofUsPartII let's take a look back at two months of Sony legal stories.

It begins with a question.

"Is Sony Illegally Using the DMCA to Muzzle Last of Us Leaks? (VL215)"

A deeper dive took us into the seedy underbelly of Sony's previous attempts to "extra-legally" curtail discussion of their information, let out into the wild.

"Last of Us Leak Follow-Up: A History of Legal Violence (VL216)"

Sep 26, 2019 39 tweets 8 min read
So, I have to say this is fascinating, and I have to recommend that every American citizen read through what is alleged here.

That said, I think it unlikely to change minds in the long run, and while I don't want to get too political here, I want to discuss why.

#Whistleblower First and foremost, the sourcing here is odd.
Apr 19, 2019 80 tweets 37 min read
Alright, who's ready for a page turn highlight review of Volume 2 of the #MuellerReport? (For yesterday's extensive Volume 1 review, please see the link below).

This will take a while, so check back on the thread periodically.

Volume 2 of the #MuellerReport begins as Volume 1 did, with a sentence setting the tone. A "variety of actions".
Apr 18, 2019 58 tweets 26 min read
Definitely going to be reading the #MuellerReport. May wind up putting highlights and summary thoughts in this thread depending on how much of interest is in there. 448 pages! Setting the tone. First sentence of the #MuellerReport (after recitals of legal status).