The website was founded in 1997 by Mike Masnick. It was originally based on the weblog software Slash. Techdirt's content is based on reader submissions as well as the editorial staff's picks. The website makes use of MySQL, Apache, and PHP, and is hosted at ActionWeb.[2] Techdirt is managed by Floor 64, a company located in Redwood City, California, US.[3] As of 2009, Techdirt had eight full-time employees.[4]
The popular term the "Streisand effect" was coined on Techdirt by founder Mike Masnick in January 2005.[8][9][10]
In 2003, Forbes Magazine selected Techdirt as one of the "Best Tech Blogs".[11] In 2006 Bloomberg Businessweek praised Techdirt for its "sharp, pithy analysis of current tech issues".[12] In 2007, Techdirt was nominated for the Webby Award in the section "Web Blog – Business".[13] Techdirt has been named among the favorite blogs of PC Magazine in 2008.[14] In 2015, Techdirt allowed readers to remove web ads.[15]
In 2009, English singer Lily Allen created a blog critical of music piracy in which she plagiarized an entire post from Techdirt.[16] Following an exchange with Techdirt, debating hypocrisy in the musician's handling of copyright infringement, Allen shut down her blog.[17]
In 2017, American entrepreneur Shiva Ayyadurai filed suit against Techdirt for defamation in response to a series of articles critical of Ayyadurai's claims to have invented email as a teenager in 1978, an assertion which has been dismissed by several experts.[19][20] Techdirt announced its intention to fight the suit, describing it as a "First Amendment fight for its life".[21] Masnick filed for the suit to be dismissed under California's anti-SLAPP statute.[22][23] A federal judge dismissed the defamation claims on September 6, 2017.[24][25] In June 2018, attorneys for Ayyadurai appealed the ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.[26] The two parties settled out-of-court in May 2019 with no money changing hands, and Techdirt's articles remaining online with an added link to a rebuttal on Ayyadurai's website.[20][27]
In 2012, Techdirt published a report on the state of the entertainment industry, arguing that despite the rise of online file sharing, the music industry and broader entertainment industry were still able to make significant money.[29]
In 2018, Techdirt and Diegetic Games ran a Kickstarter campaign to publish a version of a CIA training card game that had been released to the public after a FOIA request.[30][31]
Masnick and Techdirt run a think tank called Copia, which has received funding from companies such as Google and Yelp.[32] Through this effort, Masnick has worked on multiple policy-focused video games, including Moderator Mayhem, a game focused on content moderation,[33] and a followup titled Trust & Safety Tycoon.[34][35]
References
^Matt Asay (18 Feb 2013). "John Lennon's lesson for public-domain innovation – IP protection hurting, not helping, US and UK". The Register. Archived from the original on 2016-11-30. Retrieved 2017-01-02. TechDirt highlights research showing that extending copyrights increases prices and limits dissemination of knowledge, while also pointing out that people who believe patents cause innovation are simply confusing correlation with causation. If anything, patents inhibit innovation.
^Masnick, Mike (2005-01-05). "Since When Is It Illegal To Just Mention A Trademark Online?". Techdirt. Retrieved 2024-04-09. How long is it going to take before lawyers realize that the simple act of trying to repress something they don't like online is likely to make it so that [...] is now seen by many more people? Let's call it the Streisand Effect.
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