The internet is a communications platform. That is the source of the fear in the content industry. It's not a broadcast medium.
I understand that this is a HUGE problem for trolls. You no longer get to just state your opinions or lies and then expect people to accept your words as gospel. On the internet, people get to RESPOND.
Trolls spew their rhetoric and then come the facts. How do they defend their rhetoric? Facts to support them? Rarely ,if ever. Instead more opinion and FUD, in hopes that will scare the audience away from the facts presented.
We are trying to do you a favor content industry, by showing you that we do have voices. Keep ignoring us or marginalizing us and you will keep wondering what is going on and you will end up marginalized on the interwebs.
"What I find particularly interesting about the entire process is that those negotiating ACTA have shown a willingness to compromise. If only those who stand in abject opposition to anything associated with ACTA were inclined to do the same. Sadly, compromise does not seem to be one of their strong points."
That quote is alone should get your post flagged as offensive to the community. If it wasn't for TechDirt, most of us would have been completely unaware of ACTA until it was signed around the world. If you want to know why those opposed to ACTA are unwilling to compromise, try this: The negotiations were conducted in SECRET. It no longer matters what is in ACTA or whether its fixed or whether the rumors about it are false. Mike has been putting forth an effort to educate people about the false claims out there about ACTA, but I don't think that matters anymore.
You don't get to negotiate treaties behind a wall of secrecy and then get upset that people misunderstand and oppose you. If the negotiations were open and the public kept aware of what was going on, then the opposition might be less or not at all, but the negotiators didn't want ANY opposition at all and chose to do their work in secret.
"Glyn, once again you are trying to create an excuse for why piracy should be tolerated and permitted, and once again, you fail miserably."
WTF??? This article was not written to justify piracy. Is that the best you can come up with, really? The article is about giving the copyright industry special treatment in a capitalist market, but you ignore that and go for the FUD. The pirates are destroying America. Whatever.
"The internet creates jobs with or without a SOPA law."
That is actually true, but it leaves out the fact that SOPA/PIPA would be likely to slow the growth of job creation from the internet and do nothing to increase job creation in the copyright industry, but you didn't address that.
"Do you really think that The Pirate Bay is a great source of employment in the US? Do you think that keeping Megaupload online was doing some great favor for the unemployment rates in Nebraska?"
Wrong questions. Try this one. Do you think the Pirate Bay and/or Megaupload have done significant damage to the copyright industry or affected unemployment in Nebraska? The answer is no. Please don't counter with record stores, as the loss of jobs in that niche is more than made up by other jobs created in other places on the internet, and the music industry as a whole has experienced growth.
Why are you so focused on piracy as a business model? The focus of the article is on job creation on the internet. Wake up. The internet is much more than just music and movies, and the opportunities for job creation are far wider than just the copyright industry. The issue at hand is one of creating laws that favor one industry that have an impact on many other sectors.
You can keep shouting at the top of your lungs that PIRACY is BAD, but the fact is that current copyright laws are already being abused to deal with piracy. The public will continue to resist laws like SOPA/PIPA that have a direct impact on the internet and job creation. Hmmmm piracy or job creation, which is more important?
Guess what? Most of America does not live in Hollywood or work in the copyright industry, nor do we care if movies can no longer pay $3 million to an actor for a role. We do care if sharing a video of our children that has a Beatles song playing in the background is suddenly a criminal activity.
The War on Terrorism is Terrorism. Politicians have discovered the ultimate political weapon. Terrorize the populace with the idea that terrorists are out there and ready to strike any moment, then they can pass just about whatever law they want with little to no objection.
The Patriot Act is anything but Patriotic, but any politician that suggests otherwise lives in fear of being voted out of office.
The War on Terrorism is perfect. How often does terrorism occur in the US? Not very often. So our politicians get to look as if they are protecting us by saying, "See, we've increased security and nothing happened because of that" when statistically nothing would have happened anyway. They might as well be telling us that all of their efforts have stopped comets from hitting the Earth.
The FBI has thwarted a number of "terrorist plots" that they have manufactured in an effort to prove we are safer.
It just seems the real War on Terrorism should begin in DC.
Who cares about making money????? If the big studios can gross $500 million and still not break even, does it really matter what these small indies make?
If they profit $1 , then they are still 100% more profitable than Return of the Jedi.
It would seem there is a corollary to the Streisand Effect. Trying to bring as much attention as possible to a bad idea, can bring all of that intended attention to a good idea.
I would like to thank all of the trolls for working so hard in their efforts to maximize IP laws to their benefit. Without that effort, so many of us would not be communicating so much about things we otherwise would not have paid attention to.
I'm guessing that all of the political maneuvering that goes on in foreign countries has been business as usual for decades. We may have known that it was going on but never actually got to hear what was actually being said. Often, we the people, have worried that we are being watched by our respective governments, which in a lot of cases is true (i.e. TSA and Tweets). We the people, are waking up and realizing that our governments are much more worried about us watching them. Secrets are no longer so secret. The web is appropriately named for its ability to catch things.
Once again, thank you for all your hard work trolls. Just a bit of advice.... the interweb thingy is not like TV or Newpaper; when you state your position on it, people actually get to read it, research it, and then start talking to one another.
Two excellent points in your rant. Once elected our officials should be cut off from "party" funds. That would, at the very least, create less of an incentive for corporations to fund parties directly ( they would have to work harder with individual bribes ). So it shouldn't just be the POTUS but all of Congress as well that is cut off and forced into the "Presidential and Congressional" parties. It would also be harder to have an us vs them mentality when everyone in Congress is in the Congressional Party.
I also thought that the head of the Executive Branch, which is in charge of law enforcement could not comment on a law enforcement issue. It's as if the White House petitions are asking for petitions about Congress, which the White House has no control over. "Ask me about their job so I can comment, but don't ask me about my job."
I gotta love this. If buying the politicians doesn't work, buy the people they represent.
The funny thing is that they should have done that first and saved themselves some cash. $1 x 10,000,000 voters or $1,000,000 x 60 senators, simple math.
Thank you TSA for protecting us from another dastardly terrorist plot. I can't wait til this episode is added to the list of TSA accomplishments that have made us safer.
This is the US and we don't want any water bottles, plastic utensils, or threatening Tweets in our country, and the terrorists need to learn that we mean business.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for saying it first. WB OBVIOUSLY has no clue how much content is out there. You have to have something that is in-FUCKING-credible if you expect the average consumer to be excited enough to remember to wait for the in queue date.
Let's see..... I'm on Netflix and probably wasn't excited enough to see the movie in the theaters which is why I searched for it on Netflix. Hmmmm not available. Next move.... search for something else that I want to watch. Chances of going back on the in queue date? Completely random. Increasing sales or value? Not at all.
This guy sounds like he's still amazed by the invention of the light bulb. I would ask his stance on the TSA, but I doubt he even knows that those new fangled Aeroplane machines exist outside of science fiction.
I think Mike is completely correct when he says the issue is the starting position. This is not about piracy not is it about legislation or business models. The content industry already has a very good business model that will work in an online environment. Offering content to the user for free and then selling advertising for all those eyes has been working for a long time.
The issue is GREED. There is A LOT of money in big content in the middle and those people do not want to give that up. That is natural. If you are being paid a ridiculous amount of money and that is dependent on keeping other from entering your market then of course you will try desperately to protect your interests.
Big content isn't upset with the tools that tech has created, it's upset that those tools are available to anyone who knows how to use them. Tearing down the entrance barriers is the real fear. Creating jobs where there were none and splitting the pie is the real fear.
Just reading about an alcohol ban clashing with a monopoly is enough to hurt my head. If alcohol is so dangerous that it needs to be banned at Brazilian stadiums then it should be banned countrywide, period. Should FIFA have the right to bypass the laws of the countries that host it's event? Hell no.
Either outcome in this strange battle will just support one bad idea or the other. How do you choose the lesser of two stupids?
Ok so we have spoken up about SOPA/PIPA/ACTA and it seems that I am seeing TechDIrt quoted in a number of other articles. It's impressive to see the petitions that have come out of all of this protesting and I can wait to see the official White House responses to some of them.
Now that we have all this "awareness", it's time to start attacking the roots of the problem.
There is a petition to reduce the term of copyright to 56 years maximum. Ok that's still a long time but it's a start.
Re: Re: Re: I feel that Piracy is a big problem...
Actually I think that real pirates are overjoyed that their profession is all but forgotten now that everyone thinks of copyright infringement the moment they hear piracy mentioned.
I imagine that the pirates holding those US hostages thought they were completely safe when they heard about the raid. "Aw mate, its nuthin' to worry 'bout. Them troops are lookin' for Kim Dotcom, not us."
On the post: We're Living In the Most Creative Time In History
Re: Re:
I understand that this is a HUGE problem for trolls. You no longer get to just state your opinions or lies and then expect people to accept your words as gospel. On the internet, people get to RESPOND.
Trolls spew their rhetoric and then come the facts. How do they defend their rhetoric? Facts to support them? Rarely ,if ever. Instead more opinion and FUD, in hopes that will scare the audience away from the facts presented.
We are trying to do you a favor content industry, by showing you that we do have voices. Keep ignoring us or marginalizing us and you will keep wondering what is going on and you will end up marginalized on the interwebs.
On the post: Watch Out: Widespread Protests Against ACTA Spreading Across Europe
Re: Re: Re: Re:
That quote is alone should get your post flagged as offensive to the community. If it wasn't for TechDirt, most of us would have been completely unaware of ACTA until it was signed around the world. If you want to know why those opposed to ACTA are unwilling to compromise, try this: The negotiations were conducted in SECRET. It no longer matters what is in ACTA or whether its fixed or whether the rumors about it are false. Mike has been putting forth an effort to educate people about the false claims out there about ACTA, but I don't think that matters anymore.
You don't get to negotiate treaties behind a wall of secrecy and then get upset that people misunderstand and oppose you. If the negotiations were open and the public kept aware of what was going on, then the opposition might be less or not at all, but the negotiators didn't want ANY opposition at all and chose to do their work in secret.
Deal with it.
On the post: If Politicians Pushing SOPA/PIPA Want To Create Jobs, They Should Support The Internet -- And Stop Treating Copyright Companies As Special
Re: Just stop it. Please.
WTF??? This article was not written to justify piracy. Is that the best you can come up with, really? The article is about giving the copyright industry special treatment in a capitalist market, but you ignore that and go for the FUD. The pirates are destroying America. Whatever.
"The internet creates jobs with or without a SOPA law."
That is actually true, but it leaves out the fact that SOPA/PIPA would be likely to slow the growth of job creation from the internet and do nothing to increase job creation in the copyright industry, but you didn't address that.
"Do you really think that The Pirate Bay is a great source of employment in the US? Do you think that keeping Megaupload online was doing some great favor for the unemployment rates in Nebraska?"
Wrong questions. Try this one. Do you think the Pirate Bay and/or Megaupload have done significant damage to the copyright industry or affected unemployment in Nebraska? The answer is no. Please don't counter with record stores, as the loss of jobs in that niche is more than made up by other jobs created in other places on the internet, and the music industry as a whole has experienced growth.
Why are you so focused on piracy as a business model? The focus of the article is on job creation on the internet. Wake up. The internet is much more than just music and movies, and the opportunities for job creation are far wider than just the copyright industry. The issue at hand is one of creating laws that favor one industry that have an impact on many other sectors.
You can keep shouting at the top of your lungs that PIRACY is BAD, but the fact is that current copyright laws are already being abused to deal with piracy. The public will continue to resist laws like SOPA/PIPA that have a direct impact on the internet and job creation. Hmmmm piracy or job creation, which is more important?
Guess what? Most of America does not live in Hollywood or work in the copyright industry, nor do we care if movies can no longer pay $3 million to an actor for a role. We do care if sharing a video of our children that has a Beatles song playing in the background is suddenly a criminal activity.
On the post: One Nation, Under Guard
Isn't it ironic
The Patriot Act is anything but Patriotic, but any politician that suggests otherwise lives in fear of being voted out of office.
The War on Terrorism is perfect. How often does terrorism occur in the US? Not very often. So our politicians get to look as if they are protecting us by saying, "See, we've increased security and nothing happened because of that" when statistically nothing would have happened anyway. They might as well be telling us that all of their efforts have stopped comets from hitting the Earth.
The FBI has thwarted a number of "terrorist plots" that they have manufactured in an effort to prove we are safer.
It just seems the real War on Terrorism should begin in DC.
On the post: Kickstarter Becomes The Darling Of Sundance By Financing Lots Of Movies... Without Movie Studio Arrogance
Re: Re:
If they profit $1 , then they are still 100% more profitable than Return of the Jedi.
On the post: Estonia Next In Line To Receive US 'Encouragement' To Adopt Harsher Anti-Piracy Laws
Thank you Lobbyists, Shills, and Trolls
I would like to thank all of the trolls for working so hard in their efforts to maximize IP laws to their benefit. Without that effort, so many of us would not be communicating so much about things we otherwise would not have paid attention to.
I'm guessing that all of the political maneuvering that goes on in foreign countries has been business as usual for decades. We may have known that it was going on but never actually got to hear what was actually being said. Often, we the people, have worried that we are being watched by our respective governments, which in a lot of cases is true (i.e. TSA and Tweets). We the people, are waking up and realizing that our governments are much more worried about us watching them. Secrets are no longer so secret. The web is appropriately named for its ability to catch things.
Once again, thank you for all your hard work trolls. Just a bit of advice.... the interweb thingy is not like TV or Newpaper; when you state your position on it, people actually get to read it, research it, and then start talking to one another.
On the post: Senator Wyden Attacked For Actually Trying To Get Stuff Done, Rather Than Playing Partisan Politics
Re: Re: DEMAND THEIR RESIGNATIONS!!!
I also thought that the head of the Executive Branch, which is in charge of law enforcement could not comment on a law enforcement issue. It's as if the White House petitions are asking for petitions about Congress, which the White House has no control over. "Ask me about their job so I can comment, but don't ask me about my job."
On the post: CreativeAmerica Literally Resorts To Buying Signatures
If at first you don't succeed...
The funny thing is that they should have done that first and saved themselves some cash. $1 x 10,000,000 voters or $1,000,000 x 60 senators, simple math.
On the post: Homeland Security Denies Entrance To UK Tourist Because Of Twitter Joke
Thank You
This is the US and we don't want any water bottles, plastic utensils, or threatening Tweets in our country, and the terrorists need to learn that we mean business.
Keep up the good work.
On the post: Warner Bros. Just Keeps Pushing People To Piracy; New Deal Also Delays Queuing
Re: What movie was that?
Let's see..... I'm on Netflix and probably wasn't excited enough to see the movie in the theaters which is why I searched for it on Netflix. Hmmmm not available. Next move.... search for something else that I want to watch. Chances of going back on the in queue date? Completely random. Increasing sales or value? Not at all.
On the post: Author Jonathan Franzen Thinks That Ebooks Mean The World Will No Longer Work
?????
On the post: Is The 'Legislative Solution' To Online Infringement To Create A Content Use Registry?
Wrong starting position
The issue is GREED. There is A LOT of money in big content in the middle and those people do not want to give that up. That is natural. If you are being paid a ridiculous amount of money and that is dependent on keeping other from entering your market then of course you will try desperately to protect your interests.
Big content isn't upset with the tools that tech has created, it's upset that those tools are available to anyone who knows how to use them. Tearing down the entrance barriers is the real fear. Creating jobs where there were none and splitting the pie is the real fear.
On the post: FIFA Orders Brazil To Overturn Ban On Selling Beer At World Cup Matches
Clash of the Moronic Titans
Either outcome in this strange battle will just support one bad idea or the other. How do you choose the lesser of two stupids?
On the post: Apparently Veoh Isn't Dead Enough For Universal Music; Asks For Rehearing Of Its Bogus Copyright Lawsuit
Irony 101
The tech industry needs new laws to protect it from the music industry.
On the post: The Sky Is Rising: The Entertainment Industry Is Large & Growing... Not Shrinking
?????
On the post: Bar Fight! Sony Sues Karaoke Distributor For Infringement; Gets Sued Right Back For 'Copyright Misuse'
SOPA Math
Piracy may not be a lost sale, but its probably 1000 lost licenses.
Wow, that almost made sense.
On the post: Bar Fight! Sony Sues Karaoke Distributor For Infringement; Gets Sued Right Back For 'Copyright Misuse'
SOPA Math
Piracy may not be a lost sale, but its probably 1000 lost licenses.
Wow, that almost made sense.
On the post: Once More, With Feeling: It Wasn't Silicon Valley Or Google That Stopped SOPA/PIPA, It Was The Internet
Ugh !!!
On the post: Discussing SOPA/PIPA Over At On The Media
Petitions, petitions, and more petitions
Now that we have all this "awareness", it's time to start attacking the roots of the problem.
There is a petition to reduce the term of copyright to 56 years maximum. Ok that's still a long time but it's a start.
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/reduce-term-copyrights-maximum-56-years/MnXrd3x G
On the post: EMI VP Comes Out Against SOPA/PIPA; Says The Answer To Piracy Is Providing A Better Service
Re: Re: Re: I feel that Piracy is a big problem...
I imagine that the pirates holding those US hostages thought they were completely safe when they heard about the raid. "Aw mate, its nuthin' to worry 'bout. Them troops are lookin' for Kim Dotcom, not us."
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