cc's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week

from the han-solo dept

Sat, Mar 12th 2011 12:00pm — cc

This week's favorite posts come courtesy of cc, who's been having fun doing battle in the comments

Do you ever get the feeling that Techdirt has just way too many departments? Yes? Well, it's thanks to that abundance thing Mike is always on about... And it looks like today I'm adding my own: I think I'll call it the DHS, short for "Department of Han Solo". Just because I can.

So on with my highlights for this week.

ICE are living up to their name, trying to create a chilling effect on people linking to stuff they don't like. As Mike noted, they are skating on very thin ice, and hopefully the courts will put them in their place pretty quick. If not, the US gov't will be getting some cool new internet censorship toys soon.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren has come forward with blistering criticism of the lack of due process in ICE's domain seizures, and has given IP Czar Victoria Espinel a thorough grilling about their legality. Lofgren later suggested that the 84,000 websites slandered as child pornographers in the botched mooo.com seizure should turn up the heat on ICE, and made one thing clear: speak up! If you want your Representatives to listen to you, write them physical letters and you might get some attention.

Funnily enough, it wasn't ICE who responded to Lofgren's comments, but the RIAA. Not surprisingly, a response written by industry lobbyists is full of lies and deception, which Techdirt kindly took the time to debunk.

In other important news, a US proposal for the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement), the sequel to ACTA, has been leaked. As those paying attention have come to expect, it's just a list of the things they wanted but didn't get in ACTA. At the same time, we get the news that a major 'piracy' report has concluded that more enforcement is not the right solution -- thus bringing all of US foreign IP policy into question. Hey, now even WIPO has said copyright has been pushed too far.

Of interest may also be that the US Supreme Court have agreed to look at the Golan v. Holder case, and specifically whether it's constitutional to yank public domain works back into copyright. Fingers crossed the supremes will come to the right decision.

On the trademark insanity front, Zynga is trying to trademark most of France, Apple is trying to trademark 'app', and the Twilight vampires are on the prowl for anything with the word 'twilight' in it.

And while we're speaking of insanity, I might as well mention how the consumer rights organisations were treated during the joke hearings about the Special 301 report. Keep it classy, boys.

And that's it for now. May the force... well, you know.

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38 Comments

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xenomancer (profile), 12 Mar 2011 @ 12:12pm

ಠ_ಠ
The MAFIAA is not pleased this week; this is srs.
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- The eejit (profile), 12 Mar 2011 @ 1:58pm
  
  Re: ಠ_ಠ
  Monopoly: SRS BZNS.
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- Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2011 @ 5:05pm
  
  Looking forward to it...
  Why not? The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is great news for anyone who cares about copyright.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2011 @ 6:43pm
    
    Re: Looking forward to it...
    Since the majority of the world doesn't it is bad news then LoL
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2011 @ 5:04pm

Considering the only country that has enacted strong anti-piracy is South Korea, why would anyone expect there to already be evidence strong enforcement works?

France hasn't cut a single infringer off with their laws.

So where would we get this evidence from? The future via time travel?

That report was just typical pirate blather. "Cut prices down and we'll pay!" No you won't. Evidence is already quite strong that you can keep cutting and cutting prices. People will still go for the "free" option, whether it is legal or not, as long as it is available.
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- Modplan (profile), 12 Mar 2011 @ 5:12pm
  
  Re:
  Can we nip this in the bud?
  
  http://piracy.ssrc.org/
  
  http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ippd-dppi.nsf/eng/h_ip01456.html
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4VsTm3TPj4
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL2FOrx41N0
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  - Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2011 @ 5:20pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Music prices are the lowest they have ever been. If you are complaining about digital entertainment costs, you either don't get out much or are very young.
    
    You can keep cutting all you want. It won't change the fact that unbridled piracy makes the same product available for the infinitely lower price of $0.00.
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    - Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2011 @ 8:37pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Do you know what the marginal cost of an infinitely reproducible good is? That's right! It's $0.00.
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      - Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2011 @ 10:49pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        Do you know what the cost of developing a top of the line pharmaceutical or Hollywood blockbuster is?
        
        I'll give you a hint. It's not $0.00.
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        The eejit (profile), 13 Mar 2011 @ 3:38am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
        Then perhaps they should stop making shitty sequels and minor modifications in order to keep their patents/copyrights.
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        Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2011 @ 12:11pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
        Are you daft? Hollywood make sequels because that's what still sells based on brand recognition, not because they want to. Don't blame the movie studios for that. Blame the audiences.
        
        As for pharmaceuticals, billions goes into R&D every year. And patent lifespan, including the 3-5 years of medical trials to get approval, is very short.
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        cc (profile), 13 Mar 2011 @ 1:43pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
        Seriously troll, STFU.
        
        If you took the effort to look at the charts, you'd see that in 2010 the top-grossing films have NOT been sequels, with the exception of Toy Story 3. In fact in 2009, Avatar, the highest-grossing film of all time, was an original film.
        
        Pharma spends "billions" on R&D, but they spend way more on marketing, and their profits dwarf most other industries by a huge margin (high-risk business my arse). Their patent lengths are too short? Ask the people who need access to stupidly-priced patented drugs NOW to stay alive, I'm sure they'll agree.
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        Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2011 @ 1:44pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
        So that's why copyright has to last centuries! Because audiences are stupid.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2011 @ 5:28pm
    
    Irony
    On a tangential note, does anyone else find it funny that the report itself is copyright?
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    - Modplan (profile), 12 Mar 2011 @ 6:00pm
      
      Re: Irony
      http://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Lessig/Free_Culture/Free%20Culture.htm#p53
      
      Talking about irony...
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      - Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2011 @ 6:04pm
        
        Re: Re: Irony
        Following the logic of your link, similarly, plenty of Internet-based services have been "born of piracy". But there is no reason they should have to remain that way now or in the future. Just like radio, cable TV, or any of the other markets discussed, they have every chance to now legitimize what they are doing.
        
        If they won't do it voluntarily, it is the job of the government to make them. Fortunately, governments seem to be grasping that concept as the costs of piracy increase.
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        Modplan (profile), 12 Mar 2011 @ 6:09pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Irony
        http://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/papers/imbookfinalall.pdf
        
        http://torrentfreak.com/internet-piracy-b oosts-anime-sales-study-concludes-110203/
        
        http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,71 0976,00.html
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        Modplan (profile), 12 Mar 2011 @ 6:25pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Irony
        You know what irony is? My comment being caught by the spam filter in providing more links as to why your assertions are plainly false.
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        coldbrew, 12 Mar 2011 @ 9:38pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Irony
        You and your blood type-ee, fingerprint-ee hocus pocus. We're talking copyright here, fella. Copyright is gawwwwd!
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        Atkray (profile), 12 Mar 2011 @ 6:29pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Irony
        Thanks for the memory nudge.
        
        Pirate radio on FM, San Francisco, late 60's to mid 70's.
        
        You just exponentially increased my dislike for music distribution companies. I had forgotten all about how good FM radio was before it was corrupted.
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        big al, 13 Mar 2011 @ 7:27am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Irony
        Can we add Radio London and Radio Caroline in the UK (or, rather, just outside the nautical limit) to this? For further irony, let's add that a film based on Caroline (The Boat that Rocked) is under copyright...
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        Ron Rezendes (profile), 14 Mar 2011 @ 8:48am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Irony
        "If they won't do it voluntarily, it is the job of the government to make them."
        
        Citation requested.
        
        Please show me where in the US Constitution or anywhere else where it is clearly spelled out that the job of the US gov't is to make anybody do anything related to internet based services.
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- Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2011 @ 6:46pm
  
  Re:
  Well there is strong evidence that markets grow despite "piracy", the 15 markets showing growth according to the RIAA, only 4 had such nonsense enforcement laws enacted(i.e. South Korea, Sweden, U.K. and France) recently.
  
  So we see a strong indication that piracy is not really a problem at all, but you can keep saying otherwise.
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- Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2011 @ 6:51pm
  
  Re:
  Also I want to point out that people don't pirate enough, since labels are slow to die and studios are doing just great.
  
  God I hope free legal alternatives for video start appearing left and right so I can dump your asses once and for all, music is not a problem anymore people can find alternatives like Jamendo and Magnatune that are just great, for books there is at least a thousand years reading on archive.org and Gutenberg.
  
  Tell me, to whom you are going to sell that snake oil of yours?
  Because I can say with all honesty I don't need you people and those laws doesn't matter that much you people are going down one way or another and the more rigid copyright becomes more powerful legal free alternatives become also.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2011 @ 10:37pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Maybe Masnick can come back and try to explain how price has nothing to do with production cost.
    
    That was a good one.
    
    All the music and movies you rip off were produced for free in a basement, right?
    
    LOL
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    - Chris Rhodes (profile), 13 Mar 2011 @ 4:25am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Speaking of price, the labels and studios spend millions on schemes to make sure their content is nearly unusable for legit customers, so they shouldn't be offended when I decide to get that content elsewhere. Simple as that, really.
      
      If you want to have me as a customer, you should treat me like a customer. If not, well, there are other people selling.
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    - big al, 13 Mar 2011 @ 7:31am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Just to put another perspective here (yes I am a baby-boomer) I have recently 'stolen' some music - all of which I'd previously paid for on vinyl and also (pre Disney laws) would have been in the public domain by now. Hell, half the artists are dead, so I'm sure as hell not stopping them from creating.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2011 @ 10:52pm
    
    Re: Re:
    If people didn't feel a need to access copyright content, they wouldn't pirate. And then we wouldn't be having this discussion.
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    - Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2011 @ 1:13am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      If it didn't cost anything to make, they wouldn't have to enforce their copyright. And it wouldn't be as hurtful when it was ripped off.
      
      But that's not how reality works.
      
      Remember, Masnick is lying when he says that studies have debunked the fact that piracy is hurtful. It is quite obvious to anyone that isn't willfully blind that it is very hurtful.
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      - The eejit (profile), 13 Mar 2011 @ 3:42am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        No, piracy is harmful to morons. Please, get your facts right next time.
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      - Chris Rhodes (profile), 13 Mar 2011 @ 4:29am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        It is quite obvious to anyone that isn't willfully blind that it is very hurtful.
        
        "Pay no attention to the facts, studies, and other distractions. We know it's hurtful because we know it's hurtful. Trust me, the RIAA wouldn't hire shills like me if they didn't think so!"
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    - vivaelamor (profile), 13 Mar 2011 @ 6:51am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      "If people didn't feel a need to access copyright content, they wouldn't pirate."
      
      First, I often feel a need to access copyrighted content and I'm not sure even the person that you're replying to suggested otherwise. They seem to be suggesting that actually people do still feel the need to access copyrighted video content.
      
      Second, 'pirating' isn't reliant on people needing to access copyrighted content, but people merely wanting to access it. I've already admitted that I often need to access copyrighted content, but much of the unauthorised copyrighted content I access is because I want to, not need to.
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- Chris Rhodes (profile), 13 Mar 2011 @ 4:40am
  
  Re:
  Considering the only country that has enacted strong anti-piracy is South Korea
  
  There's no such thing as "strong anti-piracy", because when an anti-piracy measure fails, you move the goalposts for what constitutes "strong".
  
  A year from now you'll say "We don't know if strong anti-piracy measures work yet, because China is the only country in the world that executes file-sharers by firing squad. The rest of the world merely boots them off the internet!"
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BuzzCoastin (profile), 12 Mar 2011 @ 6:24pm

ICE protects Americans
China censors the Internet but ICE protects Americans. I believe it because Big Brother told me so.
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- Greevar (profile), 12 Mar 2011 @ 7:54pm
  
  Re: ICE protects Americans
  Be careful. Big brother has a low sensitivity for sarcasm, but if you lay it on too thick, they might catch on.
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- The eejit (profile), 13 Mar 2011 @ 10:12am
  
  Re: ICE protects Americans
  Eh, censorship is for cowards and the fearful anyway. We're not fearful, just afraid of the MAFIAA's stupidity.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2011 @ 10:42am

You know piracy has got problems when even the Chinese are starting to crack down...

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9LU4N281.htm
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- ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 13 Mar 2011 @ 3:36pm
  
  Re:
  That's counterfeiting, not copyright infringement (which is what piracy usually refers to outside of the high seas.)
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