House Hearing On File Sharing Turns Into 'But Why Can't Google Magically Stop All Bad Things Online' Hearing
from the no-surprise-there dept
You kind of knew where things were heading when the House decided to have pre-COICA hearings on what websites can do to deal with copyright infringement -- especially when they titled it "Promoting Investment and Protecting Commerce Online: Legitimate Sites v. Parasites." The very fact that they're presupposing certain sites as "parasites," suggests this hearing was not about reasoned discussion (is any Congressional hearing ever really about that?), but about pointing fingers, and the key finger pointing was directly at Google. I'll have a separate post on the "prepared remarks" of the various speakers, but the Congressional Reps in attendance apparently focused most of their attention on Google, wondering why it's not magically stopping infringement online."The question isn't what Google has done," [Rep. Bob] Goodlatte told the audience. "But more about what Google has left to do."Note what he did not do, which is point out that Google has gone significantly beyond what the law requires to help copyright holders. It's even set up ways for them to directly monetize content when it's found to be infringing online. You would think that helping copyright holders monetize is more important than "stopping infringement," but somehow no one ever seems to think that way. Also note that Goodlatte simply took the (mostly false) accusations by the entertainment industry as fact -- and didn't seem to pay attention to the fact that almost none of the accusations were accurate.
He listed some of the accusations that some in the entertainment industries have leveled at Google, such as the ability of the alleged pirate sites to fund their operations by posting Google ads on their site, as well as an inability by Google to remove infringing materials promptly.
Of course, the real crux of the argument is this belief that Google can somehow wave a magic wand and make infringement disappear online. It's technological cluelessness at its most extreme. Google has a long history of responding quickly to take down notices and (in our opinion) bending over backwards, far beyond what the law requires, to help copyright holders both defend their rights and to make money. The idea that Google "profits" from infringement has simply not been shown at all. The entertainment industry has this weird belief that anywhere AdSense ads are displayed, that massive profits follow. This is simply incorrect. But, even if it were true, how is Google to know what is and what is not infringing? It's a simple question and no one answers it, other than to say, "it's obvious." Then when it's pointed out that it's not at all obvious, they go quiet.
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Filed Under: copyright, hearings, infringement
Companies: google
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You cant reason with these people, they are bought to be ignorant and the people who pay them except them to do that job, they do it well.
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The same is now true of Google. Because people use Google to access sites, because they're too clueless to enter urls or save bookmarks, they think they're actually accessing materials on Google.
To the old idiots out there: Google is like the yellow pages. It just points you were to go and it's not responsible for anything you do when you get there.
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http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebook_wants_to_be_your_one_true_login.php
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@ A Dan Post 9
I will make it through the over 3000 post but I may pee my pants first.
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Hmmm...I can see it now: a warehouse full of people arranging scraps of paper by hand until everything is just right. Then they call in the scrapbook experts to put it all together in a nice tidy package. NOT!
That work is all sorted and arranged by computer software algorithms and/or databases which alphabetizes the items at the click of a button. It's called "publishing software". It requires a human to push some keys to indicate the desired output - very much like a Google search.
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Wrong
The internet includes many things other than websites and there are many websites who use the robots file
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"What Google has left to do..."
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Go quiet? Never! Thats when they start repeating the things that they just said before and you just debunked, only usually much louder.
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Those layoffs at record labels because half of their revenue disappeared are real. Those are job losses.
The fact that Mike Masnick ignores them and writes snarky hit pieces every day here, demonstrate how committed he is to supporting piracy.
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I don't believe the batshit insane person is the one you was calling.
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"Sod off, you wanker!"
There ya go, pinhead.
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Re: Dude, if current music...
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You are so wrong ... its because of the Eminem lawsuit they lost half their revenue stream. :)
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Think about it:
- Banks use the internet for transactions - Banking crises is Google's fault.
- Wall Street uses internet for transactions - financial crash was all Google's fault
- Google Maps displays entire world - earthquake in Japan was Google's fault.
- YouTube show videos of cats - any abuse of animals anywhere is Google's fault.
It's a magical, instantaneous scapegoat for everything!
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Clearly they should blame the Earth, if not the entire universe. After all, these people do seem to argue that where reality disagrees with their point of view, reality is in the wrong.
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The question is not...
The question isn't what AstraZeneca has done to cure cancer, but more about what they have left to do.
The question isn't what Halliburton has done to stabilize the situation in the Middle East, but more about what they have left to do.
The question isn't what Ford has done to prevent accident fatalities, but more about what they have left to do.
The question isn't what Citigroup has done to prevent risky investments and outright fraud from destroying the economy, but more about what they have left to do.
The question isn't what tuna have done to ensure the health of the shark population, but what they have left to do.
Anyone want to guess which of these similar formulations the reps would be willing to stand behind? I'd say 1 - sharks are covered by the ABA's lobbying arm.
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Re: The question is not...
Ask not what Google can do for the country and the people, but what Google can do for the entrenched monopolies with lobbying power in Washington.
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Re: The question is not...
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The line about determining what is or is not infringement is hampered on purpose by the entertainment industries themselves. You can't tell one from the next on which is or is not copyrighted by a file. Especially if the metadata was altered.
The entertainment industries don't want to tell exactly which is which. It serves their purposes far better to hide it all. This is one of the reasons the http://www.riaaradar.com/ site, is to determine which songs and albums are or are not those belonging to the big 3 labels. There is no reasonable way to tell.
The entertainment industries are milking this for all it's worth. They won't give you the names of albums and songs, they will instead sell you a filtering program they will control.
So it looks here as if they are pushing their market again as the hidden agenda.
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http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091014/0128436520.shtml#c373
But this is pretty common knowledge anyways, the reason the RIAAradar site exists is because the RIAA never updates their website. Many people have complained that they're not (or that they're no longer) members and they're still incorrectly listed on the site, and many people who are now members aren't listed on that site because it hasn't been updated in so long.
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WTF!
Isn't it?
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Re: WTF! (oops)
Isn't it?
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Destroying My Searching....
I miss the days where I could type in what I am searching for, and it would bring me back all sorts of strange and wonderful results. It was like peering into the brain of humanity, the weird, the gross, the funny, the serious, the entertaining...
Now all I get are ads, and 'properly filtered results based on someone else's idea of what is legit and/or not infringing'.
Well, screw your version of the Internet. I'm going back to my game, where we can invent/create/evolve/play/enjoy without someone demanding payment for every single little aspect.
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Re: Destroying My Searching....
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Maybe so, but not because of piracy. People don't want plastic discs anymore. They will pay for the content if someone will provide it in a useful format. Hint:Cds aren't it.
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Do you honestly think anyone falls for your BS?
And you wonder how why the word 'Freetard' was invented for you? LOL
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Hmmm.
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The purpose of copy'right' isn't about promoting investment and protecting commerce, job creation and job security is not the governments job, the purpose of copy'right' is about promoting the progress. This is practically an admission that the legal system does not intend for copy'right' to promote the progress, but to protect industry profits.
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Massive profits
And while I admit that Google's offer to monetize my video might be tempting because they're pretty talented at placing ads, I think it's more than a bit rude to offer the revenue afterwards. It's traditional to ask before taking.
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Re: Massive profits
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Re: Massive profits
It's so obvious; it's like the classic dangling a lollipop in front of them...
"Just promise them free music and they'll do whatever we want."
You were so totally used.
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Re: Re: Massive profits
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two words
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Mike Masnick Gets Owned By Floyd Abrams On Free Speech Issues
The tables have officially turned.
-Silicon Valley Is Gonna Burn-
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Re: Mike Masnick Gets Owned By Floyd Abrams On Free Speech Issues
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It is obvious though. Google needs to use the nuclear option. Ban search results containing content from RIAA, MPAA, etc. All search results that contain titles that match movie and album names. All websites mentioning TV shows, movies, and records from the labels. Remove all content from big content from YouTube.
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Where is Microsoft in all of this?
I wonder if Bing and yahoo are going to be exempted from these laws when they are passed?
Could the content industry and MS have gotten together to take on Google?
If so it makes sense from MS's perspective not from the content industry perspective. MS like GE (think NBCU sale) probably has a good idea that the price of content to the consumer is going to zero. That the content monopoly bubble is going to crash over the next couple years.
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