Boo-Freaking-Hoo: RIAA Complains That 'The Deck Is Stacked' Against Them On CES Panels
from the like-the-kkk-complaining-about-discrimination-against-it dept
Okay, this is just ridiculous. A few folks have sent over the latest edition of Politico's Morningtech report, in which RIAA representatives at CES bitch and moan that the "deck is stacked" against them in the conversation here:There are far more SOPA/PIPA opponents than supporters on hand here, as one might expect. The RIAA, however, is also on scene this week at the show -- and a spokeswoman expressed concern about the conversation so far. "It sure seems like the deck is stacked to ensure no meaningful or balanced debate occurs on an issue that is very important to American jobs and our economy,” the spox said.Are these guys serious? First of all, the attendees at the show are overwhelmingly against the bills from everything we've seen. Seeing Ron Wyden and Darrell Issa get standing ovations for opposing the bills should say something. And it's not that "the decks are stacked" against them through some nefarious means, but that the majority of people are against them because they don't like these bills. More SOPA supporters -- including RIAA/MPAA/US Chamber of Commerce folks (all of whom are here) -- could have come, but it appears not many did. And that's because not too many seem to support these bills.
But, more to the point, who the hell does the RIAA think it's kidding? "The deck is stacked"? At a trade show? How about back in Washington DC where this bill was written? In that case, the MPAA/RIAA folks were very, very active in the very creation of the bills in question. The tech sector? NOT ALLOWED at the table. The Judiciary Committee hearings? Stacked five-to-one in favor of the bill, and the "one" against the bill was Google -- who is Congress' punching bag, and was put there so that Congressional reps could grandstand against the company and pretend that only "evil Google" is against the bill. Plenty of us involved in the actual innovation economy -- the startup entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who create all this innovation offered to step up and meet about these bills -- and we were denied.
The deck is stacked? Hell yes, it's stacked. It's stacked almost 100% in favor of rushing through a bad bill that fundamentally alters both the legal and technical underpinnings of the internet, making the innovations we all want and need -- including the innovations that are already helping musicians and filmmakers and other artists -- much, much more difficult to get off the ground.
The deck is stacked? When Hollywood outspends all of those opposed on this issue with their lobbying dollars 10-to-1, and Congress simply ignores the widespread outrage and legitimate concerns of those opposed to the bill, you'd better freaking believe that the "deck is stacked." It's stacked in the other direction entirely.
So, boo-freaking-hoo to the ridiculous folks at the RIAA. So damn sorry that once you leave your DC bubble and come out to the real world where innovation actually takes place you find reality is against you. But if you want to talk about how "the deck is stacked," let's take a look back into the DC echo chamber where these bills have been crafted and are being pushed through. Yes, the deck is stacked -- and it's stacked completely against innovation and openness. So forgive us for not shedding a tear at the fact that your poor, overly-sensitive lobbyists have to hear some of the real world concerns about this bill.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: ces, pipa, politics, protect ip, sopa, stacked deck
Companies: riaa
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
About time. Let loose with some 4-letter words Mike. They deserve it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
stacked deck?
Sucks when someone does it back to you eh?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
Or I suppose there's option C: the above post is satire but too plausible to readily recognize as such.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The more I hear the RIAA talk, the more I wonder why in the bloody blue blazes I ever supported them/their position.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Love this quote
Love how they keep trotting out that somehow the entire US economy, or even a large percentage of it, is based on IP. Thus implying piracy and counterfeiting will single handedly doom the economy. Politicians sink economies, not piracy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Love this quote
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Actually...
In contrast, this is "shitting in the litterbox and then wondering why it stinks".
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
RIAA
Apparently for them "meaningful or balanced debate" can only occur when they have complete control of what is said.
The sooner these asshats shrivel up and die, the better.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: RIAA
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: RIAA
Bush, Bush, or Reagan?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: RIAA
No? Me either. But our current president seems to think that non-partisan politics is when the Republicans do what he wants.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: RIAA
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: RIAA
>:|
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: RIAA
Our current Speaker of the House seems to think that non-partisan politics is when the President does what he wants.
Glad we got that cleared up, boy!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: RIAA
> hostage and attaching unrelated matters like
> pipelines and refusing to vote until it could
> go thru unchanged?
And don't forget Obama making recess appointments when the Senate isn't actually in recess-- a bright-line violation of the Constitution if there ever was one.
Seems like we've conclusively proved here that political shananigans aren't the sole province of either party and that the whole lot of them are pretty much corrupt to the core.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: RIAA
And of course the Congress staying in session solely so they'll be in session to block the appointment, and not to conduct any business. It's all just very yucky. That's a political science term.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: RIAA
Unfortunately, this is exactly how two party politics works and has nothing to do with my previous point. Bipartisanship requires compromise, not and end run around the other party when you have a super majority.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: RIAA
Good Day Sir.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: RIAA
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: RIAA
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Keep in mind what spokespeople are paid for
Moreover, they're paid to lie repeatedly, convincingly, plausibly, vehemently.
Look, if it was just a matter of telling the truth, then CEOs and other people in similar positions could do that; they could just step up to the podium and speak for themselves. It's simple. It's easy. But it takes trained, practiced, savvy professionals -- spokesliars -- to craft and deliver the kind of quality untruths that we see from people like the one in this instance. I'm sure some of them even manage to convince themselves that they're telling the truth.
Never believe anything they say. It might be the truth -- after all, professional liars know that using the truth, when it suits their purposes, is an excellent strategy -- but that's sure not the way to bet.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Keep in mind what spokespeople are paid for
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Speaking of which...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
MAFIAA Rep:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: MAFIAA Rep:
-Bender
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
nothing bothers a cheat more than a level playing field
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: nothing bothers a cheat more than a level playing field
Some people say the sun rises in the East. Others say it rises in the West. The truth lies probably somewhere in between.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
When the RIAA is outnumbered it's class warfare, it's pirates ganging up on the poor RIAA and the little guys they represent!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
*Using worldwide numbers and total of people on the ship, **wouldn't the families of the survivors own the IP?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Dear MAFIAA, reality hurts. Reality shows there is not enough money to support your lost sales delusions. No really, You can't claim you lost trillions when the world economy doesn't have that much money, stock markets virtual value included. If you want to trick some1 into believing your "OMG PIRACY!" whining at least try to make your numbers look real.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Who's Sorry Now?
Who cried when major record labels routinely insisted on predatory contracts with their talent, and business conditions that favored their interests over those of consumers?
Who cried when movie distributors insisted on contracts with the exhibition industry that force artificial conditions which keep theater seats empty?
Oh, did I mention license and permit requirements that force small local businesses to reject or remove live music from their establishments to protect IP rights that have no benefit to the artists who (theoretically) hold them?
No babies, dry your eyes. This is called "consequence." We still love you and hope you grow up into responsible citizens. But you can't keep doing this.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Who's Sorry Now?
Speak for yourself.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Troll Grade? FAIL.
Your boss needs to hire a new shill.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Unfortunately, the childish RIAA is still going (with hands over ears and eyes closed) "Lalala, I'm not listening!!"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Screw you RIAA - I boycotted buying CD's for 5 years over the Napster crap - but I've been buying them for a while now - if SOPA goes through, I'll quit buying them again - this time, maybe for 10 years.
No skin off my back; with Pandora/Radio + the CD's I have now, I really don't need to buy anymore ever. There is little good music coming out anymore anyway.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Honestly, who is still doing that?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Honestly, who is still doing that?
Well I don't know about Overcast, it sounds like he's buying them for his own use. But I'm not sure there's a good way to give music as a gift yet other than as a CD. If there is, somebody point me to it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Flame On
I guess the dinner date is now off.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Long time coming
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Boycott CES
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Boycott CES
Not saying you are wrong but....
"extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence"
So...
[citation please]
pics, or it didn't happen
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
The congressional hearings, on the other hand had 83% of the speakers in the congressional hearings - SOPA supporters - from the low double digits of the economy (which SOPA is supposed to protect), and only a couple percent of the country (which congress is supposed to represent). In other words, the very definition of stacking the deck.
Troll harder, please.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I daresay that the vast majority of companies exhibiting at CES could care less about the pending bills since the tech industry is a bit more diverse than comments here typically suggest.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
CITATION NEEDED
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
BTW, I am not the one who made the original claim of overwhelming opposition to the bills. That claim was made in the above article.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Are you here? I am. And I've been talking to lots of companies. I stand by overwhelmingly.
And you're wrong. They absolutely care about this issue. It's funny to watch you supporters of the bill continue to underestimate the movement against such a bill.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Merely FYI, CES 2012 has 3338 exhibitors. For the overwhelming number of them to be against the legislation you would have had to talk with a whole bunch of people.
I wonder what the rep from Lowe's said.
As for being a supporter of the bills, please take note that I have never expressed either a pro or con opinion. All I have done is comment whenever some portion of the bill was said to call for "X" when in my opinion the terms of the bill call for "Y". This is not the same as being a supporter, but only pointing out interpretive inconsistencies.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
If the sample were random, it wouldn't really take that many people to get a statistically meaningful result. I think national surveys only talk to a few thousand people and get a margin of error of something like 4-5%. Of course Mike's sample is not going to be random, so it's not clear how conclusive the results would be, but perhaps better than you might think.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
No, all you've done (assuming you're the usual AC) is berate people for having a different interpretation of the bill, never admitting that your statements are simply your opinion, let alone being open to discussing it with others.
I suppose it's a start that you've admitted that it's opinion and not some unchangeable truth, I suppose. Maybe you'll be more civil and actually tell Mike why your opinion differs rather than attacking him?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The deck is of course stacked against them how could it be any other way?
The thing to remember is that, this happens naturally, not by locking them out, they just don't have the resources to silence the opposition anymore.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Tell how you really feel.
:)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
so full of #### there eyes are brown
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What do you mean we don't own them yet?
Get me ICE on the phone NOW, we will fix this oversight immediately!
At some point they are so delusional it would just be best to confine them somewhere for everyones sakes.
Can we just call Washington back into session and wall the damn thing off?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Citizen RIAA
"People will think... what I tell them to think."
If so, we're coming up on the two-hour mark:
"Whaddaya been doin' all this time?"
"Playing with a jigsaw puzzle."
"If you could've found out what 'CD' meant, I bet that would've explained everything."
"No, I don't think so; no. Mr. RIAA was a man who got everything they wanted and then lost it. Maybe 'CD' was something he couldn't get, or something he lost. Anyway, it wouldn't have explained anything... I don't think any word can explain a man's life. No, I guess 'CD' is just a... piece in a jigsaw puzzle... a missing piece."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Stack THIS, madam spokeswoman
What about the 30,000+ "American jobs" created by the hated Google alone, and $200 billion market value created and poured into "our economy" by Google alone, in just the past decade or so?
These guys deserve all the profanity that Mike was classy enough not to sprinkle liberally throughout the article. Having read about the outrageously stacked legislative process that the bill has been through so far, reading this had me bursting a few blood vessels as well. Mike, hats off to you for calling it as you see it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Patio Brisbane
[ link to this | view in chronology ]