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WSJ The Latest Mainstream Press To Run Anti-SOPA/PIPA Opinion Piece

from the this-isn't-what-hollywood-expected dept

Mon, Nov 28th 2011 2:57pm — Mike Masnick

Add the Wall Street Journal to the list of mainstream publications writing about just how damaging SOPA and PIPA would be. Former WSJ publisher, and now columnist, L. Gordon Crovitz, has written an opinion piece trashing the bills as being nothing more than Hollywood trying to "strangle" the internet.

These bills would go so far to protect copyright that they would strangle the Internet with regulation. The Web would be transformed from a permissive technology where innovation is welcome to one where websites are shut down first, questions asked later.

Crovitz summarizes the situation by highlighting how frequently the entertainment industry has cried wolf in the past:

Hollywood is playing to stereotype, hoping to suppress technology as it did in 1982, when the late industry lobbyist Jack Valenti said the invention of the VCR was to the "American film producer and the American public as the Boston Strangler was to the woman home alone." Hollywood has since also fought DVD players, DVRs and MP3 players.

Technology makes many things possible, good and bad. One thing that seems a mission impossible is having laws keep up with the pace of change on the Internet. Hollywood's effort to create a different story line for the future of the Web is a horror show. Lawmakers should walk out.

While not the official position of the WSJ, it's good to see more mainstream pieces calling out the problems with SOPA and PIPA. It's really kind of amazing. The supporters of these bills really seemed to think they'd be approved without any real pushback. They're still trying to make such claims in our comments. The reality is that there's a growing public realization that a few big businesses who don't want to adapt are trying to saddle the innovation industry with regulations to slow down the pace of innovation. That goes against what most people want. Sooner or later, Congress is going to realize that you can't just vote for the bills that get the most lobbying dollars... if you won't be able to get the votes of your constituents when election season rolls around.

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Filed Under: l. gordon crovitz, pipa, protect ip, sopa, wsj

36 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 28 Nov 2011 @ 3:15pm

"Adapt"? Hahahaha

Yes, victims of lawbreakers are the ones that need to "adapt".

"hey you, rape victim over there, stop complaining and learn to adapt."

LOL
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out_of_the_blue, 28 Nov 2011 @ 3:17pm

Suddenly you're with the "mainstream" press?
Should be a tip right there that SOPA would actually be good.

But I'll stick with opinion that the fix is definitely in so the Establishment organs are now free to criticize it. -- Took 'em a month to get excited? Phooey. -- Look for its passage right before Congress rushes off for holidays.
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robin, 28 Nov 2011 @ 3:21pm

DMCA Repeal
From the article:

The proposed changes to the law would effectively repeal the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Gee, yathink?

In all seriousness, this is the openly denied by SOPA's supporters' goal. Glad to see a MSM guy realize it.
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el_segfaulto (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 3:31pm

Re:
Hyperbole much?
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vegetaman (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 3:48pm

Oooh... I like this part.
One thing that seems a mission impossible is having laws keep up with the pace of change on the Internet.

Or having politicians even try to keep up with the technology that they are looking at blindly approving sweeping legislation over...?
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rubberpants, 28 Nov 2011 @ 3:56pm

Re:
Sadly, this is about the level of thought most SOPA supporters have brought to bear on the issue.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Nov 2011 @ 3:59pm

One thing that seems a mission impossible is having laws keep up with the pace of change on the Internet.

Yet another scripted meme that makes the op-ed one big slanted fail.
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LyleD, 28 Nov 2011 @ 4:00pm

Yet, for every person who comes out against it.. Another paid shill in the mainstream press comes out for it;

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottcleland/2011/11/28/sopa-opponents-bogus-net-neutrality-compa risons/
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Nov 2011 @ 4:02pm

Re:
"In stark contrast, online piracy opponents are working within the boundaries of the U.S. Constitution to enforce the rule of law."

I especially liked that quote :)
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bjupton (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 4:04pm

"Sooner or later, Congress is going to realize that you can't just vote for the bills that get the most lobbying dollars... if you won't be able to get the votes of your constituents when election season rolls around."

Let's hope.
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Avantare (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 4:05pm

This may or may not be heavy handed.
But still...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/28/1040530/-Congress-is-close-to-destroying-the-in ternet-%28no-hyperbole%29
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rubberpants, 28 Nov 2011 @ 4:08pm

Re: Suddenly you're with the "mainstream" press?
Quietly pass it before the holidays? Are you kidding?

Can you imagine the crap storm that would ensue for the reps that voted for it?

They're already gun shy. The last the thing they need is the whole Internet supporting their primary challengers.
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rubberpants, 28 Nov 2011 @ 4:10pm

Re:
Slanted? You mean an article on the op-ed page expresses a particular opinion on an issue?

Thanks for contributing Captain Obvious. Insightful as usual.
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 4:11pm

Wall Street? Bunch of commies, the lot of them.

Of course they support website rape by the broadbrush terrorist pirates with their $100M movies.

It's because they refuse to think analog. And Google.

Vote yes for America!

U-S-A!
U-S-A!
U-S-A!
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Jesse (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 4:12pm

I, for one, welcome draconian attempts at copyright. In fact, I would go so far as to say that such extreme legislation is to the copyright maximalist "as the Boston Strangler was to the woman home alone."
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Mike42 (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 4:17pm

Re:
Yeah. It's much better to say, "Hey, you've been accused of rape. You now have to sit in jail without possibility of bail, until we get around to doing a DNA test in a month or 6. We would let you go on bail, but you might rape that person again in the meantime. The person accusing you of rape has been known to make lots of false accusations, but we don't care, 'cause they give us money.

Is that what you're talking about?
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fogbugzd (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 4:17pm

Re:
Forbes articles have generally been in favor of SOPA, so I was shocked today to see this on Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrydownes/2011/11/28/the-revolt-against-congresss-new-interne t-piracy-proposals/
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Nov 2011 @ 4:28pm

Elvis Costello incites piracy!
Quote:
Steal This Record

If on the other hand you should still want to hear and view the component parts of the above mentioned elaborate hoax, then those items will be available separately at a more affordable price in the New Year, assuming that you have not already obtained them by more unconventional means.

Source: http://www.elviscostello.com/news/steal-this-record/254

In another quote:
One percenter asks: "Have You Ever Heard of Anybody Great That's Come Out of the 99 Percent?"

Source: http://boingboing.net/2011/11/28/one-percenter-asks-have-you.html

Well, to that one I have to answer that aside from Einstein that was an office clerk, Pitagoras that probably founded the first socialistic society in written history, Archimedes, Leonardo Da Vinci(a bastard son that never got formal education), William Thomson(a.k.a. Lord Kelvin was the son of a farmer) and probably more than half the founders of the 500 biggest companies today no there was never anybody great that came from the 99%.

All of this ignoring the great names of today like Steven Hawkins, many many mathematicians including one Russian guy(Gregori Perelman) that lives in poverty and didn't take the million dollar award.

The more people get smart the more they realize that you can always live with only the basics apparently only the stupid ones are the ones that pursue the bling bling mentality.

Wealth should be a consequence of work well done, not some entitlement line of reasoning, trying to slice work into layers to make it easier to others to claim they are great is just not what the world needs, the world needs people who understand the whole dynamics between markets(people) and production, not crazy assumptions of what it should be, reality will always win that battle.

And SOPA is just another proof that stupid people are the ones trying to gain control without having to do any real work.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Nov 2011 @ 4:39pm

Re:
So multinational corporations are now rape victims?

LOL
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See Federal_Reserve_Act, 28 Nov 2011 @ 4:41pm

Re: Re: Suddenly you're with the "mainstream" press?
Because nothing dreadful was EVER passed just before x-mas.
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hmm (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 5:01pm

Re: Re: Suddenly you're with the "mainstream" press?
Yes but then supporting the challenger would somehow be "infringing" and the rival sites would be shut down......
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Nov 2011 @ 5:21pm

Why do we still call these newspapers the "mainstream" press. How is their news any more mainstream then any other source online?
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Nov 2011 @ 5:33pm

Re: Re:
Sadly, true. The assumption is that the law is (always) right and there is no challenging that alleged fact. Any thought beyond that on the part of IP extremists is absent.
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abc gum, 28 Nov 2011 @ 5:34pm

Re:
Everyone knows that if you want accolades for your bad analogy it must include an automobile.

For example, you could've said something like -
hey you, road kill over there, stop complaining and GTFOOMW.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Nov 2011 @ 5:48pm

Re:
exactly
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abc gum, 28 Nov 2011 @ 6:16pm

I've read a lot of stories lately about this SOPA/PIPA, and I've got to admit that I've got quite a hankerin for some Mexican pastry right about now. Must be a new marketing campaign.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Nov 2011 @ 6:37pm

Sooooo, Chubby. After taking enormous pains in your article about how the NYT and LA Times came out opposing the bills officially (through the editorial board) you (again) deliberately post a misleading headline suggesting the WSJ has come out against it. Clearly you know the difference but you continue to deceive. Why, Pudgy, why?
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Nov 2011 @ 6:42pm

Re:
Hint: If you are the one trying to purchase a new law to salvage your business model, you are the one that needs to adapt.
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Jay (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 6:58pm

Re: Re: Suddenly you're with the "mainstream" press?
Can you imagine the crap storm that would ensue for the reps that voted for it?

Here's a bigger question... When they're voted out, would the next reps repeal it?

Leahy's out of touch reply that 40 Senators support this, while the rest of the world does not, says that these Senators need a dose of reality because they will still try to support bad legislation.
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Atkray (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 7:20pm

Re:
Clap

Clap

Clap

Clap
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Ninja (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 7:43pm

Re:
And instead of recognizing that two major news outfits adopted an official stance against the absurd of SOPA and colunists (like WSJ case) that don't necessarily represent the newspapers but have an impact on what the mainstream public does and thinks you are simply calling Mike names and focusing on some unimportant issue that is properly explained in the article if you care to read it.

Makes you so more credible and reliable. I just shed a tear.
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Jay (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 9:46pm

Re: Re:
Clap, clap-clap-clap
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btrussell (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 10:02pm

Re:
The trees used to print them were once floated down the main stream to the mill.
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techflaws.org (profile), 28 Nov 2011 @ 11:58pm

Re:
Because he likes your colorful ad hominems.
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The eejit (profile), 29 Nov 2011 @ 1:50am

Re:
1) you missed the final two words: Opinion Piece

2) Nice anonymity. Be a shame if something happened to it (Like SOPA).

3) You consistently fail to address any even remotely valid criticisms of SOPA, just going with "chubby". I, for one, like chubby people, but you clearly don't.

4) Please, raise your discourse or bugger off back to Achin' Asshole, Alaska. After all, your view is becoming more and more marginalised every single day.
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Nov 2011 @ 2:45am

Re:
Is this is what SOPA supporters have been reduced to? Some "Ad Hominem" spewing morons, who can't even convincingly defend their point of view?
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