MPAA Pretends To Capitulate On SOPA, Will Offer Changes For 'Legitimate Concerns'
from the yeah,-ok dept
This is barely even worth mentioning, but it's making some news, so we'll point it out. The MPAA's point man on SOPA/PIPA, Michael O'Leary, told the press today that they're willing to "tone down" the legislation in response to the "legitimate concerns" raised:“We will come forward with language that will address some of the legitimate concerns” of technology companies that have opposed the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House, and a similar Protect I.P. Act in the Senate, Mr. O’Leary said.First of all, this is nothing new. Rep. Lamar Smith, the official sponsor of the bill had already been on record using that exact same phrase: "legitimate concerns." The thing is, what they consider to be "legitimate concerns" are basically none of the concerns that many people have raised.
The more telling point in all of this is the outright admission that the MPAA is the one writing the bill. We've seen some reports making the rounds where defenders of the bill keep insisting "this bill isn't being written by Hollywood," but in the quote above, you can see that O'Leary is confirming that the MPAA is providing the language. The NYTimes report makes this point even clearer:
He said those who were pushing the far-reaching antipiracy legislation have been huddling with Congressional staff members from both parties and both the House and Senate in the last few days, in an effort to answer some objections raised by Google, Yahoo and others who say the bills reach too far.Notice who's not included in those discussions? That's right. Everyone who raised objections. How the hell do you address concerns if you don't actually include the people who are concerned? The answer is you don't, and the whole thing is a sham. O'Leary also points out that most of the tech folks still won't be satisfied, which basically is an admission that he doesn't actually care about the concerns. From there he starts making stuff up:
“It’s all rhetoric and there are no proposals,” he said of the position staked out by the opponents to the bills. “From where I sit, it’s hard to see that as anything but a pretext for running out the clock and preserving the status quo.”The thing is, O'Leary knows that's untrue. He knows damn well that plenty of folks have presented or are working on alternative proposals. It's just that when they're not allowed in the discussion at all, it's kinda difficult to have those proposals heard. Meanwhile, as we noted earlier, Senator Wyden has already said he's working on an alternative bill. Pretending otherwise is simply false.
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Filed Under: copyright, michael o'leary, pipa, protect ip, sopa
Companies: mpaa
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There, now did I leave anything out?
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There, now did I leave anything out?
Those are good proposals in general. I'd add a need for broader personal use rights and bright line rules for fair use.
But none of this addresses the rogue sites problem. How do you suggest we deal with that?
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So please, explain why so much time and effort should be going to prevent piracy instead of focusing on making content that people want to watch or interact with.
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I think this also depends on what one defines to be a 'problem' and for whom. and why should the government be responsible for everyone's problems.
I have a problem. I want a billion dollars. The government should fix that problem by providing me with a billion dollars.
IP extremists have a problem. They want IP privileges. That's no excuse for the government to 'solve' their problem by giving them what they want.
The problem is ... there is no problem. No one is entitled to an IP privilege and if the public doesn't want these laws then they shouldn't exist and that shouldn't be a problem. Anymore than the fact that I want a million dollars shouldn't be the governments problem.
The point is that before we can discuss a problem we need to discuss why we are defining it as such. and since no one is rightfully entitled to a monopoly privilege then perhaps it shouldn't even be a problem to begin with.
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Says who, you?
In case you haven't noticed, nobody cares what you think.
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Oh wait that was not what you wanted to hear was it?
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As long as media companies ignore the wants of a potential market (and yes, most of those 'pirates' are still marketable), those media companies are going to lose out.
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Now if I could do it, and I am not really into that kind of stuff I can only imagine what determined people would do.
I don't have cable, I don't listen to music, I don't buy books, I go to Jamendo for music, I go to Project Gutenberg for books and I rip off the movies I like to perfect copies and give them away for free to anybody who asks me.
How do you suggest to deal with piracy if it is not done on the internet?
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Now I have no problem doing it all for them, I do it and I show them how to do it, I teach them how to stream that crap to anywhere using encryption so they can have access to it anywhere and better yet without having to give a goddamn dime to the entertainment industry.
I also show them how easy it is to use anonymous encrypted filesharing options that are not bittorrent, so they can trade any disc copy verbatim with others at long distances and this has nothing to do with "rogue" sites which for me is an euphemism for "what we don't like".
Creepy bastards will destroy a great nation.
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Cutting off the money flow to foreign sites engaging in commercial infringement might well be reasonable, provided that any remedies are carefully limited to US based payment processors and ad services.
If the government can prove in court that bigpiracy.com engages in commercial piracy and ingores valid takedown notices, I have no problem with banning Paypal and VISA from serving the site after due process has been observed.
However, I would like any remedies being limited to foreign commercial sites directly benefitting from piracy.
If a foreign site obeys the notice and takedown scheme of the DMCA, and does not engage in inducement or other conduct that would itself constitute copyright infringement, it should be the end of the matter and no further remedies should be granted.
However, cutting off the enduser's access to the site is quite different, and should never be instituted.
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I'd like idiot American corporations to service their markets adequately so that worldwide demand for such sites is removed, but we can't have everything now, can we?
"If a foreign site obeys the notice and takedown scheme of the DMCA"
Why do you morons think that your laws are applicable to the rest of the world? Do you also think that your companies should be subjected to Chinese rule?
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The Pirate Bay might be legal in its country of residence, but its owners have no right to access to Paypal or Visa.
Surely US law can tell an American corporation that it's forbidden to transfer money on the behalf of a foreign website.
I in no way like SOPA, but if the remedies are limited to payment processors and ad networks, and the definition of roague site is further narrowed to direct commercial exploitation, the collatteral damage is minimal.
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What if, like in the PirateBay's case, their service is completely legal in the country that site is based?
The internet is GLOBAL, and not solely there to serve US interests.
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But, they also have bigcopying.com for the more accuracy-minded. Maybe I can get all of them and hope that karma helps me last a while before ICE steal the domains from me?
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Actually it does - because the major problem copyright has right now is the "hearts and minds" problem. The measures suggested here - by making copyright more reasonable, will make it more acceptable to the public. That in itself will make the public less likely to use the rogue sites.
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Unless you plan on making copyright so short that this doesn't matter...
Either way I'm in.
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This is what Lamar and MPAA are doing in response.
That sums up this article in a few words.
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What "legitimate concerns" are they going to address in the next draft? Any ideas?
The thing is, O'Leary knows that's untrue. He knows damn well that plenty of folks have presented or are working on alternative proposals.
Got any links for these alternative proposals? I'd love to see a better plan for dealing with rogue sites.
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Where are they?
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Or you know just continue to ignore the law and continue to do what they always did.
See above none of those came from the interwebz.
Explain how is that going to stop any piracy at all.
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Look at nature - there is an animal occupying every viable "niche" in the ecosystem. Economics works the same. Whilst it is true that every individual has a choice whether to adopt an extra-legal business model - so long as the model is viable you can be certain that someone will occupy it.
Your remarks would indicate that you are a fantasist.
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If natural selection made a comeback and all money suddenly became worthless, these fat old morons would be the very first to go extinct.
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Got any links for these alternative proposals? I'd love to see a better plan for dealing with rogue sites.
Sure. CwF + RtB = do nothing. It's simple math.
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That's the zen approach. Be one with the infringer.
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You guys are not capable of swimming with the real sharks.
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Before you start squeaking I want you to see this:
None of those came from the interwebz :)
I have thousands of them after decades of ripping them.
Now that I call real piracy, I'm making perfect copies not the blocky 700MB versions in the Pirate Bay, that looklike they were recorded from the TV.
Can you stop that?
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Maybe if they want to capture those underserved markets they should set up sites that offer the same thing for the right price. Or they can just stop worrying about it as they are currently making record profits. Those are two good options.
Hollywood isn't "in trouble."
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Their concern is and always has been those who then take these rips and start sending them out to others in copious numbers, and especially now that the internet enables instant distribution to the world.
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Is the government going to make the internet less safe by forbidding secure connections?
If not SOPA is just as good as nothing.
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Well, that's great...
Because, you know... Sunshine, Rainbows and Chocolate Unicorns!
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Re: Well, that's great...
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My comment to NY Times, 3+ hours in moderation queue
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That's simply stunning, for a New York Times reporter to regurgitate as fact the propaganda espoused by the MPAA and RIAA. Specifically this, "The proposed bills are intended to combat foreign-based Web sites that traffic in stolen copyrighted content by forcing sites that assist them through searches, payments or other means to sever those connections." I would expect a writer for this publication would be familiar with the proposed law and know that the law is not restricted to foreign websites.
And how does it propose to restrict access? Why, by having the government mandate censorship, and by making all sites that allow user generated content subject to massive secondary liability claims.
It's a bit disturbing that it's claimed and reported so matter of factly that the MPAA is re-writing this bill. That's not government by, for and of the people. Rather, it's by, for and of the corporate interests. The credulity of this report is even more shocking since the New York Times and many other mainstream news sites have recognized the danger the bill poses to open expression and freedom of creativity.
But the biggest laugher is the claim that Google is trying to "gin up" opposition to the bill with spurious claims. That's a lot of chutzpah from an organization that routinely claims movie piracy harms corn farmers, soldiers serving overseas and the US economy itself! It's like living in some sort of fantasy world.
It's no wonder that the MPAA propaganda tries to use true problems like counterfeit drugs with in order to enable massive government censorship intended solely to save them from adapting their Buggy Whip business model. They put forward blue collar workers decrying lost jobs while executives collect $75 million bonuses and lobbyists earn millions a year for successfully buying off Congress for a full generation to date.
It ends now. SOPA and its cousins are disastrous and should simply not be passed in any form.
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So now suggesting compromise language somehow means the MPAA wrote the entire bill. Perhaps you should spend some time getting that GED so you don't have such problems with reading comprehension.
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What problem?
"Rogues sites" ? Give me a break
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Just because it says it will come forward with some new language certainly does not translate into "Yes. We admit it. The members of the MPAA are the ones who wrote the current bill, gave what we wrote to the judiciary committee, our personal work product is now pending before committee, and we will make some amendments to it."
I know it may be difficult for some to accept, but it is not at all unusual for businesses and individuals to propose changes to a bill that a committee may decide (or not) to incorporate into a bill under consideration.
If the "tech industries", whatever that may mean and include, did the same their input would likewise be considered. Thus far it appears as if their input has been little more than "No, no, no" to everything, and no proposed amendments have been offered. Small wonder what underlies the comment made that the tech industries are trying to run out the clock and retain the status quo.
Trying to paint the MPAA and its associated groups as being those wearing black hats and the tech groups being those wearing white hats is so biased that it is hard to take many of the articles and comments here seriously.
Legislation always involve compromise, with each side on an issue giving something to the other in return for reciprocal concessions. This matter is no different than what transpired when the DMCA was enacted.
Sorry, but on a scale of 1 (bad) to 10 (great), this article, in my view, resides at the lower end of the scale.
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It is natural for a business to tell their employees what to do.
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You are what in business terms is referred to as a "revenue stream", or possibly a "resource".
If you think of yourself in higher terms, like "the public", "human" or "citizen", we will have to send a SWAT team to reeducate you.
Coming soon to a reality near you.
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Just as they have a right to pursue legislation, you have the right to advocate your position regarding the legislation.
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But the MPAA is winning against piracy.
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MPAA Reveals $400000 Spend on Q1
MPAA spent $470K in 2Q
MPAA spent $420000 lobbying government in 3Q
They are not having a taco party bro. They are greasing palms to pass shit legislation that serves only a handful of rubes in suits(thats my term for the day FYI)
Nigel
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Re your reference to "suits", you make it sound as if only senior executives are the beneficiaries of legislation such as this. Their oftentimes ridiculous compensation aside, it does bear mentioning that these companies employ many, many people, both directly and indirectly (suppliers, for example).
BTW, if one wants to rag on executive compensation, he/she should be directing their disgust towards company shareholders who approve such compensation. Disgust should also be directed at a corporate system where the directors are generally a select "club" beholden to senior executives. Frankly, I am almost to the point that I would like to start lobbying the SEC to consider its rules concerning directors and insisting upon a greater number of independent directors who are not part of the "club" and who are beholden to no one.
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Alternatives?
Having an alternative is always a good way to seek compromise, but 'everyone else' just say that its fine how it is?
Different perspective. A bill says that the EPA should be stripped of all enforcement powers. Does the opposition need to table something that says "we'll meet you half way, but you asked for too much." Or can they all wisen up and say "hmmm, the way it is seems to be fine"?
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Lets take an extreme example: A law that requires everyone with red hair to be shot.
It is obviously OK to oppose this law without offering an alternative.
Disregarding opponents of the law because "they dont offer an alternative" is just dishonest.
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In the pure spirit of haggling over this bill we should offer the counter plan of abolishing copyright, mandating full internet encryption for all, making it illegal for anyone to track users, and having the MPAA donate $10 billion dollars to the Pirate Bay. That way when we meet in the "middle" with the MAFIAA, it will be a lot closer to the actual middle middle, as opposed to closer to where they want to be
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I lobby congress for a billion dollars and the moon. People complain. I say, "Well I currently don't have a billion dollars and the moon but I WANT IT! I realize you have "legitimate concerns" don't see you offering any "alternatives!"
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Tone down, huh?
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My Proposal (very rough outline)
1. Reduce the copyright term to something more inline with its original intensions e.g. 30 years. Tell whining musicians that copyright does not exist to provide them with a retirement income, they need to invest like the rest of the population.
2. Give consumers the right to copy digital media (as defined above) that they have legally obtained for their own personal use. Essentially outlaw DRM.
3. Change copyright law to remove the ability of the copyright holder to control reproduction and distribution. Retain only the right to be compensated for distribution (i.e. where a copy changes hands). Anyone can copy and distribute anything but they are legally obliged to tell the copyright holder and compensate them for it. If the copyright holder does not want something to be distributed do not release it, once it is "in the wild" then they only retain the right to be compensated for it.
4. Create a central database of ALL copyrighted digital mass consumer media as defined above (i.e. every audio recording, movies, tv program, book magazine etc every produced that is currently under copyright). Each "media item" would have a unique identifier and if possible a high quality reference copy of the media.
5. Offer a series of subscription based licences for consumers at different prices for the media in the database. For this to compete with piracy it is imperative that at least some of these licenses be "all you can eat".
6. Create a standards based publicly documented API for the media database. This allows anyone who wants to distribute the media to comply with point three by recording that a copy has been distributed and to record that the person in receipt of the copy has the appropriate licence for that media.
7. An independent organisation should be set up manage and maintain the database, process payments for licenses and administer the distribution of funds to copyright holders. Their role should be very well defined so as to avoid the "scope creep" common to collection societies. Their role should be entirely technical and administrative and should not involve any kind of enforcement.
8. Licenses should be voluntary and not some kind of legal imposed "media tax" forced on ISPs or similar nonsense proposed in the past.
9. There should be a basic free of charge license, this would give all consumers access to any content that creators wish whilst giving those creators an idea of how popular their content is.
The way this would work is as follows. A user (john) signs up for a subscription (Music only, all you can eat) and decides to pay monthly ($10 a month). He signs up through a website distributing audio media, the payment goes directly to the central db administrator and not to the website distributor. He receives a username and password. This password can be used by any distributor website and is authenticated with the central database via a secure protocol such as oAuth. The distribute may provide the content in any format and by any means they wish (stream, download, CD, wax cylinder, stone tablet etching whatever) all they are obliged to do is log with the central database that the logged in user has accessed the media.
This separates out responsibilities nicely, e.g. record companies, film and tv studio can concentrate on what they are good at, producing and promoting content and they base their business model around that and not on the increasingly quixotic desikre to control distribution. Technology companies can concentrate on what they are good at, coming up with innovative ways to provide content to consumers in a format they find convenient and valuable. The distribution companies do not receive any money for the content, it is up to them to work out how to monetise their distribution mechanism, and we all know they will. It also creates true competition between distributors because users will use the service that they find the most compelling.
The pot of money should be distributed on a pro rata basis, weighted by the number of UNIQUE users that access that media e.g, a user using a music streaming service who listens to the same track 50 times counts once, just as a user who downloads the track once and listens to it 50 times.
There are many flaws in the above description that would need to be ironed out to turn it from an outline, back of envelope idea to a real implementable plan. But i strongly believe that it is a sensible foundation for a maintainable system. All it would take is for the media companies to realise that they can no longer base their business model on controlling distribution and as such they should stop trying to control it.
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Re: My Proposal (very rough outline)
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