The goal of giving consumers power to stand up to our broadband oligarchy is a worthy one, but I'm a little pessimistic that a consumers' union would fly. I've only had some small experiences with labor law and unions, but those include some interesting conversations with the NLRB, and DOL / OLMS (Office of Labor Management Standards) investigators, who often suggested and sometimes emphasized, just how little power unions actually have under the law. Even in the best of situations, a union's ultimate performance, I was told, depends on how determined or apathetic its members choose to be. A labor attorney I retained echoed that, and added that FWIW, always keep in mind that labor law was crafted by politicians, many of whom did not have much desire to see organized labor succeed. Basically, labor law is a seriously flawed vehicle.
I came away from my experience thinking that labor unions are at best merely a patch on a fundamental flaw in our democracy, drawn up when European monarchical governments could charter or dissolve concentrations of economic power on a whim. Our founders created a system to yoke power to the will of the people, but unfortunately they seem to have failed to anticipate a day when economic power would eclipse and capture the power of the state. As a result we now have a vast reservoir of power that lies outside of any effective democratic control.
The currently popular dogma that economic power shouldn't be considered POWER, and therefore subject to the will of the people, is ka-ka, IMO.
My conspiracy theory is that if we check his DNA, we'll find conclusive proof that politicians are now GMOs. My guess is some combination of carp, neanderthal, and parrot genes.
There's no need for a long explanation on how broadband providers conduct business, since all you really need to know is found in any Edward G. Robinson movie; The boys from Chicago meet with Miami, agree to stop blasting each other to really make some dough. What was that word they used? Syndicate. I think that's it.
A few decades ago I had thoughts of traveling to the Philippines, but the travel warnings put me off; among them were commonly encountered problems of corruption among public employees and officials. Several that I remember: customs officers would stamp passports with a shorter-term visa than was paid for, and pocket the difference. Post office employees would remove stamps from letters and packages. Travelers needed to carry a reasonable amount of bribe money for the local cops, who had a tendency to detain cheapskates.
While these things are probably exceedingly common in many places, it dawned on me that the Philippines had been given a constitution by their once-upon-a-time overlord (the U.S.) nearly identical to its own, and it became very real to me that what's on paper isn't nearly so important as what people will accept as normal.
The bottom line is that if Americans don't develop a serious interest in reigning in our new security state, we're gonna be in big trouble. I suspect that our rights and cherished institutions like a free press can disappear with much less fuss than many people would think possible.
It's not corruption, it's merely the everyday business in D.C. of keeping our elected officials in an endless stream of controlled situations so they won't deviate from the plan. Beware lobbyists wearing hats.
The commercial value of content in entertainment, visual design services, and creative writing is mind-bogglingly huge these days, and yet the peons on the assembly line, so to speak, are having a tougher time than ever making a living. Funny how it parallels the wider phenomenon of the largest corporate players patting themselves on the back and proclaiming themselves the true job creators / content creators, while naturally taking a bigger slice of the profits. And, oh yeah, erecting ever-higher barriers to competition.
. . . what they really want is for tech providers to take whitelists or blacklists from big Hollywood companies and simply suppress anything those companies want to disallow - an unaccountable private censor for everyone else's communications.
This is exactly the heart of the matter, and for much more than just this latest nonsense from CreativeFuture. We're talking about shills here- doubtless they don't believe a word that comes out of their own mouths about BitTorrent, and frankly I don't see much reason to debate the logic behind their statements; they're not believers, they're advocates and propagandists for whom facts and reason are optional. All the noise from the Hollywood shills over SOPA, DMCA, support for TPP, copyright term extensions, first sale, etc., etc., is all just chilling effect. Get BitTorrent to reform? It's not really their goal. Tarnishing them and every other alternate source of entertainment that Hollywood doesn't own is the strategic mission. Make people afraid of those scary pirates, keep fair use a risky proposition, limit the public domain, and so on.
FYI- They already have their white list for you, if you're sufficiently cowed and feel that going out on the big bad web in search of entertainment is just too dangerous. You of course don't want to use that horrible Google; the CreativeFuture and Copyright Alliance websites both have links to Hollywood's white list at wheretowatch.org
Maybe you recall that MIB is funded by patents; it's just that now they have their very own patent office, too. (The case officer at MIB who oversees my activities here on Earth says it's no big deal).
What good would a 501(c)(6) organization be if it couldn't slosh money around anonymously? So, no; there's no additional info on that million bucks, unfortunately.
Interestingly, though, our lawmakers gave those really dangerous organizations called 501(c)(5) labor unions, a bunch more hoops to jump through. The Graphic Artists Guild is saddled with having been chartered as one, so they are required to provide annual financial reports to the DOL that are somewhat more revealing, and also filed more timely. If you have a wonkish streak you might find those reports interesting, as IMO the Graphic Artists Guild is pound-for-pound the worst run organization I've ever encountered. When it comes to which side their bread is buttered on, they had dues revenue in 2013 of $131,651, but collected double that in royalties from the Authors Coalition; $ 276,123. The salaries of the two top employees at the Guild add up to more than the income from dues, which leads to the conclusion that their participation alongside the Copyright Alliance at rep. Bob Goodlatte's recent hearing on first sale doctrine was made possible only by the flow of reprographic royalty funds.
LM-2 financial reports are available at the OLMS website. file number for the Graphic Artists Guild: 513-583
I happen to have the Authors Guild 2009 thru 2011 form 990 tax returns handy, after having done some related research. A quick look shows that less than half their annual revenue came from member dues. "Royalties" were listed as the largest source of income in 2009 and 2010. In 2011 they were $0.00, but it seems someone generously ponied up $1,001,263 to tide them over that year. (Listed as "other contributions," Part VIII, Line 1f.)
My guess is that these royalties are non-title specific "reprographic royalties." The Authors Guild is a member of the Authors Coalition, which receives royalty money via IFRRO member organizations (International Federation of Reprographic Rights Organizations.) Basically, it's money scooped up overseas by the copyright licensing fee racket. This lovely revenue stream that the big publishing gatekeepers have set up relies upon fear of fair use and suppression of competition, so it shouldn't be surprising that the Authors Guild, Graphic Artists Guild, and others sucking at the reprographic royalties teat, end up spouting drivel in support of publishers rather than authors.
Maybe at some point we'll get a total meltdown, and the system will reset. Legislators and executive branch officials will be indicted for [redacted], found guilty because of [redacted] redacted], judges will be impeached and removed from the bench because of [redacted] [redacted][redacted].
The collaboration between gov't branches is what really bothers me. Imagine an independent court finding some POS politician guilty of serious crimes because of [redacted], [redacted], and [redacted]. My guess is that we'd witness some heartfelt rollback of secrecy in congress, and an executive branch that exercises a little more concern over keeping policies within bounds.
Knowing that the little piddly Graphic Artists Guild has collected tens, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in the form of reprographic royalties coming through the Authors Coalition, which the Authors Guild is also a member of, their actions shouldn't be too surprising if the AG is also getting some of that lovely free money. Fair use and public domain cut into the bottom lines of the corporations that run the reprographic racket, which get to charge licensing fees for stuff that might otherwise be free. I'd say that these lawsuits are just examples of minions licking the hand that's been feeding them.
I do have some recollection of the 1st movie actually, and grew up watching the TV series.
Tom Arnold movie: Ha! Looks like I'm the one providing horrific new information. Word of advice- don't see it; you'll become a fan of copyright term extensions just to make sure it never falls into the public domain.
Drugs? Might explain a few things. Drugs could certainly be the reason why I'm having flashbacks to the The Phantom Tollbooth that I read back in the 4th grade.
On the other hand, it could also be that phantom tollbooths are really what the battle for net neutrality is all about.
". . ONE of the McHale's Navy movies, . . " I know of the one Tom Arnold movie. If you mean to say there are others in existence that I didn't know about until now, then that's gotta be the most horrific thing I've heard of in a very long time.
On the post: Redditors Propose Setting Up A 'Consumers' Union' To Fight Back Against Broadband Giants
I came away from my experience thinking that labor unions are at best merely a patch on a fundamental flaw in our democracy, drawn up when European monarchical governments could charter or dissolve concentrations of economic power on a whim. Our founders created a system to yoke power to the will of the people, but unfortunately they seem to have failed to anticipate a day when economic power would eclipse and capture the power of the state. As a result we now have a vast reservoir of power that lies outside of any effective democratic control.
The currently popular dogma that economic power shouldn't be considered POWER, and therefore subject to the will of the people, is ka-ka, IMO.
----
On the post: NY Politician's Letter Supporting Comcast/Time Warner Cable Either Written By Comcast Or Plagiarized From Comcast
Re:
-Politician want a cracker?
. . . kraaah, politician want a cracker?. . kraaah, . .
--
On the post: NY Politician's Letter Supporting Comcast/Time Warner Cable Either Written By Comcast Or Plagiarized From Comcast
Re:
"Yeah, I'm sure it's all just a completely random coincidence..."
The universe is rarely ever so lazy.
On the post: Intellectual Ventures Aims To Tax Wind Power Producers With New Batch Of Patents
Re: Re: Smell a Rat, . . Surprise, a Rat.
On the post: Parallel Conduct: How ISPs Make The Consolidated Internet Service Market Even Worse
Short, Sweet
On the post: Intellectual Ventures Aims To Tax Wind Power Producers With New Batch Of Patents
Smell a Rat, . . Surprise, a Rat.
Oh yeah, former USTR Ron Kirk, pusher of ACTA and TPP, was also a co-chair of COMPETE. Kirk Cutting Close on Lobbying. POLITICO, Jan. 28, 2009.
How far do these sewer pipes go, anyway?
On the post: Many Pulitzer Prize Winners Demand DOJ Stop Threatening Reporter James Risen With Jail If He Protects His Sources
New Normal
While these things are probably exceedingly common in many places, it dawned on me that the Philippines had been given a constitution by their once-upon-a-time overlord (the U.S.) nearly identical to its own, and it became very real to me that what's on paper isn't nearly so important as what people will accept as normal.
The bottom line is that if Americans don't develop a serious interest in reigning in our new security state, we're gonna be in big trouble. I suspect that our rights and cherished institutions like a free press can disappear with much less fuss than many people would think possible.
On the post: Comcast, Time Warner Cable Spend Big To 'Honor' FCC Commissioner Overseeing Their Merger Review
Adjustment Bureau
On the post: The Copyright Folly: Making A Living As A Creator Has Always Been Difficult, Stronger Copyright Doesn't Fix It
Trickle Up
On the post: Hollywood Funded Group Demands BitTorrent Inc. 'Take Responsibility' For Piracy
Re: Don't demand unless you can explain how
This is exactly the heart of the matter, and for much more than just this latest nonsense from CreativeFuture. We're talking about shills here- doubtless they don't believe a word that comes out of their own mouths about BitTorrent, and frankly I don't see much reason to debate the logic behind their statements; they're not believers, they're advocates and propagandists for whom facts and reason are optional. All the noise from the Hollywood shills over SOPA, DMCA, support for TPP, copyright term extensions, first sale, etc., etc., is all just chilling effect. Get BitTorrent to reform? It's not really their goal. Tarnishing them and every other alternate source of entertainment that Hollywood doesn't own is the strategic mission. Make people afraid of those scary pirates, keep fair use a risky proposition, limit the public domain, and so on.
FYI- They already have their white list for you, if you're sufficiently cowed and feel that going out on the big bad web in search of entertainment is just too dangerous. You of course don't want to use that horrible Google; the CreativeFuture and Copyright Alliance websites both have links to Hollywood's white list at wheretowatch.org
On the post: Welcome to Eponia, Europe's New Rogue State?
Men In Black
On the post: Spain Likely To Pass 'Google Tax'; Makes Paying For News Snippets An 'Inalienable Right' And A New Bureaucracy To Collect It
Re: What's the Spanish word for...
On the post: Why Does The Author's Guild Refuse To Even Acknowledge Views Of Authors Who Disagree With It?
Re: Re: Authors Guild Form 990s
Interestingly, though, our lawmakers gave those really dangerous organizations called 501(c)(5) labor unions, a bunch more hoops to jump through. The Graphic Artists Guild is saddled with having been chartered as one, so they are required to provide annual financial reports to the DOL that are somewhat more revealing, and also filed more timely. If you have a wonkish streak you might find those reports interesting, as IMO the Graphic Artists Guild is pound-for-pound the worst run organization I've ever encountered. When it comes to which side their bread is buttered on, they had dues revenue in 2013 of $131,651, but collected double that in royalties from the Authors Coalition; $ 276,123. The salaries of the two top employees at the Guild add up to more than the income from dues, which leads to the conclusion that their participation alongside the Copyright Alliance at rep. Bob Goodlatte's recent hearing on first sale doctrine was made possible only by the flow of reprographic royalty funds.
LM-2 financial reports are available at the OLMS website. file number for the Graphic Artists Guild: 513-583
On the post: Why Does The Author's Guild Refuse To Even Acknowledge Views Of Authors Who Disagree With It?
Authors Guild Form 990s
My guess is that these royalties are non-title specific "reprographic royalties." The Authors Guild is a member of the Authors Coalition, which receives royalty money via IFRRO member organizations (International Federation of Reprographic Rights Organizations.) Basically, it's money scooped up overseas by the copyright licensing fee racket. This lovely revenue stream that the big publishing gatekeepers have set up relies upon fear of fair use and suppression of competition, so it shouldn't be surprising that the Authors Guild, Graphic Artists Guild, and others sucking at the reprographic royalties teat, end up spouting drivel in support of publishers rather than authors.
For the curious- Authors Guild EIN: 13-2509231
On the post: CIA Finishes Its Torture Report Redactions As Relations With Senate Intelligence Committee Have Become 'Strained'
If Only
On the post: DOJ Drone Memo: AUMF Trumps All And Rights Are Subject To Arbitrary Revocation In Times Of 'War'
Re: The most bone-chilling yet
On the post: Authors Guild Loses Book Scanning Case Once Again
Dark Money, Yummy as Honey
On the post: AT&T Warns FCC Of A Parade Of Horribles That Wouldn't Actually Happen If FCC Reclassifies Broadband
Re: Re: Re: Re: Yeah, That's the Ticket
Tom Arnold movie: Ha! Looks like I'm the one providing horrific new information. Word of advice- don't see it; you'll become a fan of copyright term extensions just to make sure it never falls into the public domain.
On the post: Tom Wheeler Revising His Net Neutrality Plans... But Not Actually Fixing Them
Re: What?
On the other hand, it could also be that phantom tollbooths are really what the battle for net neutrality is all about.
On the post: AT&T Warns FCC Of A Parade Of Horribles That Wouldn't Actually Happen If FCC Reclassifies Broadband
Re: Re: Yeah, That's the Ticket
I know of the one Tom Arnold movie. If you mean to say there are others in existence that I didn't know about until now, then that's gotta be the most horrific thing I've heard of in a very long time.
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