Video Detailing How US Chamber Of Commerce Deceives The Public In Its Support Of SOPA & PROTECT IP
from the lies,-damned-lies,-and-the-us-chamber-of-commerce dept
A few weeks ago, we did a step-by-step detailed debunking of the claims by the US Chamber of Commerce's Steve Tepp. He had gone on PBS News Hour to defend the illegal domain name seizures, as well as the plans for SOPA and PROTECT IP. He made claims about how "huge" a problem "rogue sites" are, and quoted some big sounding numbers in a very serious voice. We went through the details for where those numbers came from and discovered (spoilers!) that he was being extremely disingenuous in presenting the numbers. The details actually showed that he was conflating a few different issues, using ridiculously shoddy methodology, and mixing in a few dodgy assumptions on top of that. In fact, the actual numbers suggested the real problem -- that of dangerous counterfeit goods being sold, was a fairly tiny problem.Techdirt reader Nick Dynice thought that the post would work well as a short documentary, and took it upon himself to use the post as a script to create the following video about how Steve Tepp and the US Chamber of Commerce mislead with statistics in a dishonest way to garner support for the illegal domain seizures, as well as the unconstitutional proposals for SOPA and PROTECT IP.
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Filed Under: copyright, domain seizures, misleading, sopa, stats, steve tepp
Companies: us chamber of commerce
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Deception, indeed. WTG Team Techdirt!
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Re: Sith != this
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/sorry, had to... it was just so easy.
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Some Local Chamber of Commerce groups have been forced in recent years to completely disassociate themselves from the national group, because of a revolt from the small businesses they represent over stuff like environmental issues & the stimulus package. Now the Chamber is burning bridges with all the big tech companies. Who will they burn bridges with next?
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First, your voice sounds very restrained and monotone for most of the video. It also sounds like you are reading from a script. It would have been better if your voice sounded more natural and put in some more emotion so that we could tell this is something you care about.
Second, for your key points, add some text to head them off. Right now, it all seems to just mesh together. I think you made some really good points in this video that could have been highlighted so that they stood out more.
Third, when you go to prove your point about Rapid share, don't show the TechDirt and TorrentFreak articles, show the actual news articles that your stories were based off of. Showing your own site when saying something has been proven doesn't give your audience much faith in what you're saying. Especially if those people aren't normally Techdirt readers.
And fourth, citation needed. Have a nice 10sec splash at the end showing where you got your number. Include actual links in the the description of the video as well so that people can go and see for themselves if they wish.
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You can find links to the papers and posts by following the links in the previous posts.
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Re: Re: Agreed with the constructive criticism but...
I for one would pay for a subscription to a weekly roundup of articles -> mini-docs like this.
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But, for the most part, it seemed like you were reading from a script or giving a power point presentation you were nervous about giving. If you make your voice less monotone and more lively, you will gain a wider audience with the video. Public speaking (even if it is with a youtube vid) isn't easy and something that needs to be practiced to get right. :)
As for the links being int he previous posts, I appreciate that. I read techdirt daily and follow all the posts on SOPA and Protect IP. A random person who might be searching youtube to gain some more info on the topic won't have that background knowledge and might not be willing to come to this site to dig around to find your references.
Please don't take my criticism the wrong way. I really did like the vid :)
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None taken ;) Thanks for the critique.
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Beyond that I'd suggest you need a better microphone not a better studio. You can have the most wonderfully acoustically perfect location in the world but if the mike sucks the sound sucks. ;-)
I've also been known to edit video from time to time, one of the reasons I bought Adobe Creative Suite to start with. NOTE: bought not pirated! (I did test it out first of a so called pirate site to see if it would do what I needed though. You bet I did for the kind of money Adobe wants for it.)
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Between what Cowardly Anon suggests and my very few additions many mean another 30-60 seconds, if that, but it's time added that's well worth the end result. For the most part the evidence you present and your editing, so far, are good enough to draw a viewer in,
Great work!
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It has also been estimated that pigs fly south for the winter and unicorns can speak. People think "has been estimated" by an unknown random person is something worth mentioning?
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Obviously, given the trolls here, some people do think that "has been estimated" without citation is not only valuable but highly accurate information regardless of what others and the GAO in the US have to say on the same subject.
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Shame To See Tepp Pilloried Like This
So he was off in his numbers by a teentsy-weentsy decimal point or two, here and there. But the detailed sums are not important--only some logic-obsessed, math-manic anal retentive would worry about those. The overall trend is still there, and the outlook for our precious Intellectual Property looks dire unless something is done soon.
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Re: Shame To See Tepp Pilloried Like This
No, he wasn't off a decimal point. He was off by ten thousandths of a decimal point. Big difference.
But the detailed sums are not important--only some logic-obsessed, math-manic anal retentive would worry about those.
Damn straight. The nerds are doing much better than an inept lobbyist that only knows how to be a slime ball.
The overall trend is still there, and the outlook for our precious Intellectual Property looks dire unless something is done soon
Yeah, pass SOPA. See the US revolt. Something will be done.
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Re: Shame To See Tepp Pilloried Like This
SOPA undermines the functionality and security of the internet and places undue burdens on anyone and everyone except the pirates that it is allegedly written to protect. You can't punish everyone because an individual or two (or a thousand for that matter) is breaking the law. This is America, not a first grade classroom.
The stink of entitlement and arrogance is overwhelming. This nation is not built on whatever intellectual property you think you might be entitled to. It is built on a set of principles and checks and balances and I for one would rather see you wiped out completely than offer up a single set of checks and balances that keep this nation stable and free.
Actually since you and others seem so set on acting against the people of this nation and you are so eager to side with traitors like the MPAA and RIAA, I would love to see you out of business period.
Thieves are thieves and traitors are traitors. Guess which group I want taken care of first.
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Nearly great
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The US Chamber of Commerce is a criminal cartel.
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