This Week In Techdirt History: February 22nd – 28th

**Five Years Ago**

This week in 2021, Australian news sites were [reacting bizarrely to Facebook’s withdrawal from sharing news in the country][1], just before Facebook caved and [decided to restore news links][2]. The whole ordeal was surrounded by silly reactions so we [pointed to the best summary of everything][3], and also looked at how it [demonstrated the evil of Zero Rating][4]. We also wrote about how attacks on internet free speech in Malaysia and Indonesia [demonstrated the importance of Section 230][5], and some recent examples of how [content moderation at scale is impossible][6]. Also, a court [tossed out Devin Nunes’ silly SLAPP suit against CNN][7].

**Ten Years Ago**

This week in 2016, the fight over breaking into Syed Farook’s iPhone continued. We reminisced about when law enforcement [told people to upgrade their phones for stronger security][8], explained how the FBI [didn’t need the info but was just trying to set a precedent][9], noted that the scorched earth approach to Apple meant [tech companies had even less reason to help the feds][10], and learned that the DOJ [reached out to victims of the shooting for legal support before going to court][11]. A [stupid poll from Pew][12] and a [conflicting poll from Reuters][13] demonstrated how the way you write questions impacts public opinion on issues like this one. Then we dug into [Apple’s lengthy legal rebuke of the DOJ’s arguments][14].

**Fifteen Years Ago**

This week in 2011, we wondered why the MPAA openly [prioritized “fighting piracy” more than helping the film industry thrive][15], and continued whining about it even as [we saw yet another record year at the box office][16]. Music publishers were still annoyed by [a free online archive of public domain scores][17], while Google finally got involved in [a disappointingly limited way in a lawsuit over torrent search engines][18]. Australian ISP iiNet [scored another win in court][19], as did [the admins of a torrent tracker in the UK][20], while we wrote about how the lawyers for Settlers of Catan were [abusing IP to take down perfectly legal competitors][21], and about [a particularly ridiculous trademark saga about a chicken restaurant][22].

[1]: https://www.techdirt.com/2021/02/22/australian-news-sites-shocked-upset-to-learn-they-dont-need-to-rely-facebook-traffic/
[2]: https://www.techdirt.com/2021/02/23/facebook-caves-to-australia-will-restore-links-after-government-gives-it-more-time-to-negotiate-paying-news-links/
[3]: https://www.techdirt.com/2021/02/26/best-summary-australias-news-link-tax-bargaining-code/
[4]: https://www.techdirt.com/2021/02/23/facebooks-australian-news-ban-did-demonstrate-evil-zero-rating/
[5]: https://www.techdirt.com/2021/02/23/attacks-internet-free-speech-malaysia-indonesia-demonstrate-why-section-230-is-so-important/
[6]: https://www.techdirt.com/2021/02/26/content-moderation-scale-is-impossible-recent-examples-misunderstanding-context/
[7]: https://www.techdirt.com/2021/02/22/court-tosses-devin-nunes-silly-slapp-lawsuit-against-cnn/
[8]: https://www.techdirt.com/2016/02/22/remember-when-fbi-nypd-told-people-to-upgrade-their-iphones-to-enable-stronger-security/
[9]: https://www.techdirt.com/2016/02/22/no-fbi-does-not-need-info-farooks-iphone-this-is-entirely-about-precedent/
[10]: https://www.techdirt.com/2016/02/23/fbis-scorched-earth-approach-to-apple-means-that-tech-companies-now-have-even-less-incentive-to-help-feds/
[11]: https://www.techdirt.com/2016/02/23/doj-reached-out-to-san-bernardino-victims-legal-support-before-going-to-court-against-apple/
[12]: https://www.techdirt.com/2016/02/23/pew-asks-stupid-misleading-question-about-fbi-apple-fight-gets-stupid-misleading-answers/
[13]: https://www.techdirt.com/2016/02/25/way-you-ask-questions-matters-reuters-poll-says-people-support-apple-against-fbi-all-questions/
[14]: https://www.techdirt.com/2016/02/25/we-read-apples-65-page-filing-calling-bullshit-justice-department-so-you-dont-have-to/
[15]: https://www.techdirt.com/2011/02/22/why-is-mpaas-top-priority-fighting-piracy-rather-than-helping-film-industry-thrive/
[16]: https://www.techdirt.com/2011/02/24/once-again-as-mpaa-whines-about-piracy-it-had-record-results-box-office/
[17]: https://www.techdirt.com/2011/02/23/music-publishers-still-annoyed-free-online-archive-public-domain-musical-scores/
[18]: https://www.techdirt.com/2011/02/21/google-finally-gets-involved-torrent-search-engine-lawsuit-just-to-reject-red-flag-dmca-violations/
[19]: https://www.techdirt.com/2011/02/24/iinet-wins-again-australian-appeals-court-says-isp-not-responsible-copyright-infringers/
[20]: https://www.techdirt.com/2011/02/25/uk-court-dismisses-yet-another-bogus-criminal-lawsuit-against-torrent-tracker-admins/
[21]: https://www.techdirt.com/2011/02/22/how-lawyers-settlers-catan-abuse-ip-law-to-take-down-perfectly-legal-competitors/
[22]: https://www.techdirt.com/2011/02/21/ridiculous-trademark-saga-kennedy-fried-chicken/


https://www.techdirt.com/2026/02/28/this-week-in-techdirt-history-february-22nd-28th/