By focusing on subjects of interest to the creative community, you are talking to a group of people who tend to be pretty left-leaning politically. Whether or not you convince them it is in their best interests to give up copyright, trying to convince them that government services are bad might be a very tough sell. This is a group that traditionally doesn't make a lot of money. They usually welcome whatever subsidies, community funding, and low-cost programs they can get. As a group, they often benefit from society's safety nets.
I think the increasingly networked world actually facilitates the copyleft, commons, P2P, shareable, collaborative consumption, and Occupy Wall Street movements more than it does the libertarian movement. I see a critical mass forming around the idea of open source, crowdsourccing, sharing rather than owning, sustainability, and so on.
For some it is a lifestyle choice and for others it is economic, but as income inequality increases. there is an incentive for people to band together to collectively improve their lots in life.
And as we confront global problems like climate change, there is an awareness we need to work together.
Previously known as the Center for the Study of Free Market Processes, the Mercatus Center was founded by Richard Fink—with a grant from Charles Koch. Koch currently serves on the center’s Board of Directors—as does Fink who is also an executive vice president and a member of the board of directors of Koch Industries, Inc.
Yes, I've followed the dots with the Kochs over the last four years or so. The father's connection to the John Birch Society was particularly unsettling.
Libertarian ideas have their supporters, but most voters wouldn't fall into that category. And the conservative/libertarian pairing tends not to work too well because lots of conservatives WANT the government involved in issues like drug use, gay marriage, religion, and so on.
I've posted quite a bit on Techdirt lately because I want to voice an alternative viewpoint to the libertarian one.
Re: Still not sure why you are singling out Hollywood?
My sense is that while the "Hollywood is evil" posts find an audience here, it's not a huge issue among voters in general. In fact, as they continue to consume what Hollywood puts out, they seem to like Hollywood.
Rather than focusing on lobbying done by Hollywood, why not find a way to stop lobbying by every industry, or lead a crusade to reform campaign financing? A large group of people actually care about those issues and interest is shared across a broad political spectrum of voters.
In fact, if you want to weaken "big media," pull the money out of campaign financing so there is no money going for political ads.
Still not sure why you are singling out Hollywood?
There are so many tax breaks given out to so many different companies/institutions that I'm not sure why Hollywood deserves its own post here. Look at the broader questions, not just one industry.
Here's just one example if you really want to open up the discussion the bigger issue of tax breaks.
Sounds like Silicon Valley also has issues that go beyond business policy.
The Republican Postmodern Turn, Silicon Valley, and California’s Political Transformation � Cultural Geography � GeoCurrents: "Silicon Valley leaders are by no means perfectly satisfied with the economic policies of the current administration, and one hears grumbling from the rank-and-file as well. A more business-friendly orientation would be welcome, as would immigration reform that would open the door to affluent newcomers with technical talents. But a large array of Republican policies and attitudes has made the party unpalatable to most Santa Clara residents. While gay rights and abortion matter, so does science. In the high-tech world, unwavering support for the scientific approach is axiomatic. Those who regard climate change as a conspiracy, or who advocate teaching creationism in the public schools, find little support here. Yet over the past two election cycles, such anti-science viewpoints seem to have captured the core constituency of the Republican Party."
Basically: the tech industry is increasingly important to our economy, and policy makers should be careful not to muck that up.
I live in Boulder, which is number two on the list of tech worker concentration (right behind San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara).
Voters here care about a lot of issues, and it's a reliably Democratic district. The environment, sustainability, education, gay rights, women's rights, and healthy living are fairly popular causes here. We have voters here who are very vocal about anti-fracking, anti-GMOs, wanting the city to run its own power company so it can support more renewable energy, and so on. We also have a lot of government research money coming into Boulder, so I doubt you'll find much support to end that.
Politicians who think all they have to do is be pro-high tech without addressing other areas of interest to these voters probably won't do as well as those who support high tech industries AND other issues.
The problem is simply that you can't tell where it's needed or not.
And that's reason not to give any business a tax break. If you can't tell who will benefit from it, just eliminate all tax breaks. At least it makes it simpler. And there's less reason for companies to try to influence politicians if they don't get any benefit from the tax laws.
If you strip out all the benefits and all the loopholes and make the tax system as simple as possible, there's value in that by eliminating a lot of paperwork.
The MPAA doesn't need them, but a lot of small businesses need a tax break to keep running.
There are certainly some businesses I would favor over others for tax breaks, but it might be an easier sell to eliminate them for every business than to try to explain why some deserve them and others don't.
I'd love to see us go away from tax breaks period, whether for corporations or individuals.
Yes, the tax code does need to be revised for both businesses and individuals. All the breaks distort everything and the paperwork is a problem. Special interest politics at its worst.
Re: Re: Re: But why was he there in the first place?
Why join a party at all?
If a party is out of sync with your beliefs, why that one?
Again, getting back to the politics of all of this. I was surprised that the paper was released when it was and by the group that it was, so I guess I'm not surprised that it was pulled and that Khanna lost his job.
While copyright reform might be a libertarian issue (it's definitely a copyleft issue), I've never thought of it as a conservative Republican issue.
If Hollywood can have their tax breaks then I should get one too. I might even kickback some of my funds to the campaigns I want to see funded (as I currently do even though I still pay taxes.)
I lean the other way. Take away the tax breaks for every business, not just Hollywood. Let's totally reinvent the tax code (not going to happen, I know).
I don't know if Texas is off the list because its tax breaks are working or not.
Don't Mess With Taxes: Austin: "Part of the reason, in case you've missed the politicking by our governor who wants to be president, is that Texas works hard to write laws and regulators to make the state appealing to businesses. And one of the ways it does so in the creative arts field is via the state's Film Commission tax incentives. Despite the state office's name, the tax breaks are available not only to traditional television and movie productions, but also video game projects."
I'm not for or against film tax breaks. However, I would like to point out that some communities willingly pay money to support cultural activities. If a state views supporting the film industry as a cultural activity, it may feel the expense is worth it.
Here's what is done in Denver. It's not related to the film industry, but you can see how a tax is used here.
:: Welcome to SCFD: Making It Possible ::: Since 1989, Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) has distributed funds from a 1/10 of 1% sales and use tax to cultural facilities throughout the seven-county Denver, Colorado metropolitan area. The funds support cultural facilities whose primary purpose is to enlighten and entertain the public through the production, presentation, exhibition, advancement and preservation of art, music, theatre, dance, zoology, botany, natural history and cultural history.
And of course you ignored the other massive benefit I mentioned that the states receive: advertising their state to tourists.
I've followed along with the various states providing tax breaks to movies filmed locally.
I think a good case can be made that tax breaks shouldn't be given to ANY business or industry, so I probably wouldn't single out the film industry. Consider corporate welfare across the board instead.
The promotional value of having films made in your city/state is one significant reason why governments do this. If they figure they would be paying the same amount of money to a tourism board or in the form of advertising, they may feel the costs are about the same and that they would rather the money go to film crews rather than media publications and ad agencies.
Right. But if you combine that with an idea I had a year or so ago where the the elected representative used some sort of online poll (of only their constituents) to tell them how to vote on each bill you would automatically have your politics align with your voters.
Would we need parties at all, then? Or even representatives? Everything could be done with an online vote.
What I'd like to see is some sort of game program so that people could see what would happen with different policy scenarios. I realize this modeling is only as accurate as the model, but the current system (where everyone lobbies for their particular cause without factoring in how to deal with budgetary constraints, policies that act at cross purposes with each other, and so on) seems unable to deal with the complexities of modern life and global interconnectedness.
But I still wonder if someone couldn't crowdfund a run at office with a completely anonymous donation system. It would remove the cronyism part since the candidate wouldn't actually know where the money came from and wouldn't be beholden to the biggest donors. I realize that this is probably not feasible with current election funding laws, but it would be an interesting experiment.
Even if you can solve the fundraising issue, you've still got to be in a district where you can be elected. Your politics need to mesh at least somewhat with voters during the primary and then the general election.
Thus, a useful article may have both copyrightable and uncopyrightable features.
Thanks.
Yes, copyright is going to get bigger, messier, and involve a lot more industries than entertainment and publishing. Whatever is going to happen in terms of entertainment/publishing is already happening and working itself out in one way or another.
But copyright as it pertains to supply chain issues is going to involve lots of people who think it doesn't involve their jobs or their companies. When that article yesterday said copyright should revert back to charts, maps, and books, I thought, "Yes, sure, that either opens up or doesn't open up a lot of stuff depending on what you mean by 'charts.' Have fun with that."
On the post: State Subsidies To Hollywood: Almost Every Program Has Been A Dismal Failure, Costing Taxpayers
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
By focusing on subjects of interest to the creative community, you are talking to a group of people who tend to be pretty left-leaning politically. Whether or not you convince them it is in their best interests to give up copyright, trying to convince them that government services are bad might be a very tough sell. This is a group that traditionally doesn't make a lot of money. They usually welcome whatever subsidies, community funding, and low-cost programs they can get. As a group, they often benefit from society's safety nets.
On the post: State Subsidies To Hollywood: Almost Every Program Has Been A Dismal Failure, Costing Taxpayers
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
For some it is a lifestyle choice and for others it is economic, but as income inequality increases. there is an incentive for people to band together to collectively improve their lots in life.
And as we confront global problems like climate change, there is an awareness we need to work together.
On the post: State Subsidies To Hollywood: Almost Every Program Has Been A Dismal Failure, Costing Taxpayers
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Yes, I've followed the dots with the Kochs over the last four years or so. The father's connection to the John Birch Society was particularly unsettling.
Libertarian ideas have their supporters, but most voters wouldn't fall into that category. And the conservative/libertarian pairing tends not to work too well because lots of conservatives WANT the government involved in issues like drug use, gay marriage, religion, and so on.
I've posted quite a bit on Techdirt lately because I want to voice an alternative viewpoint to the libertarian one.
On the post: State Subsidies To Hollywood: Almost Every Program Has Been A Dismal Failure, Costing Taxpayers
Re: Still not sure why you are singling out Hollywood?
The Uselessness of Economic Development Incentives - The Atlantic Cities
On the post: State Subsidies To Hollywood: Almost Every Program Has Been A Dismal Failure, Costing Taxpayers
Re: Still not sure why you are singling out Hollywood?
Rather than focusing on lobbying done by Hollywood, why not find a way to stop lobbying by every industry, or lead a crusade to reform campaign financing? A large group of people actually care about those issues and interest is shared across a broad political spectrum of voters.
In fact, if you want to weaken "big media," pull the money out of campaign financing so there is no money going for political ads.
On the post: State Subsidies To Hollywood: Almost Every Program Has Been A Dismal Failure, Costing Taxpayers
Still not sure why you are singling out Hollywood?
Here's just one example if you really want to open up the discussion the bigger issue of tax breaks.
Should Churches Get Tax Breaks? - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com
On the post: Once Again: High Tech Jobs Are Important, Growing And Everywhere
Re: It's more than just high tech policy though
The Republican Postmodern Turn, Silicon Valley, and California’s Political Transformation � Cultural Geography � GeoCurrents: "Silicon Valley leaders are by no means perfectly satisfied with the economic policies of the current administration, and one hears grumbling from the rank-and-file as well. A more business-friendly orientation would be welcome, as would immigration reform that would open the door to affluent newcomers with technical talents. But a large array of Republican policies and attitudes has made the party unpalatable to most Santa Clara residents. While gay rights and abortion matter, so does science. In the high-tech world, unwavering support for the scientific approach is axiomatic. Those who regard climate change as a conspiracy, or who advocate teaching creationism in the public schools, find little support here. Yet over the past two election cycles, such anti-science viewpoints seem to have captured the core constituency of the Republican Party."
On the post: Once Again: High Tech Jobs Are Important, Growing And Everywhere
It's more than just high tech policy though
I live in Boulder, which is number two on the list of tech worker concentration (right behind San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara).
Voters here care about a lot of issues, and it's a reliably Democratic district. The environment, sustainability, education, gay rights, women's rights, and healthy living are fairly popular causes here. We have voters here who are very vocal about anti-fracking, anti-GMOs, wanting the city to run its own power company so it can support more renewable energy, and so on. We also have a lot of government research money coming into Boulder, so I doubt you'll find much support to end that.
Politicians who think all they have to do is be pro-high tech without addressing other areas of interest to these voters probably won't do as well as those who support high tech industries AND other issues.
On the post: State Subsidies To Hollywood: Almost Every Program Has Been A Dismal Failure, Costing Taxpayers
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Cultural programs
And that's reason not to give any business a tax break. If you can't tell who will benefit from it, just eliminate all tax breaks. At least it makes it simpler. And there's less reason for companies to try to influence politicians if they don't get any benefit from the tax laws.
If you strip out all the benefits and all the loopholes and make the tax system as simple as possible, there's value in that by eliminating a lot of paperwork.
On the post: State Subsidies To Hollywood: Almost Every Program Has Been A Dismal Failure, Costing Taxpayers
Re: Re: Re: Re: Cultural programs
There are certainly some businesses I would favor over others for tax breaks, but it might be an easier sell to eliminate them for every business than to try to explain why some deserve them and others don't.
On the post: State Subsidies To Hollywood: Almost Every Program Has Been A Dismal Failure, Costing Taxpayers
Re: Re: Re: Re: Cultural programs
Yes, the tax code does need to be revised for both businesses and individuals. All the breaks distort everything and the paperwork is a problem. Special interest politics at its worst.
On the post: Republican Study Committee Dumps Derek Khanna, Author Of Copyright Reform Brief, After Members Complain
Re: Re: Re: But why was he there in the first place?
If a party is out of sync with your beliefs, why that one?
Again, getting back to the politics of all of this. I was surprised that the paper was released when it was and by the group that it was, so I guess I'm not surprised that it was pulled and that Khanna lost his job.
While copyright reform might be a libertarian issue (it's definitely a copyleft issue), I've never thought of it as a conservative Republican issue.
On the post: State Subsidies To Hollywood: Almost Every Program Has Been A Dismal Failure, Costing Taxpayers
Re: Re: Cultural programs
I lean the other way. Take away the tax breaks for every business, not just Hollywood. Let's totally reinvent the tax code (not going to happen, I know).
On the post: Republican Study Committee Dumps Derek Khanna, Author Of Copyright Reform Brief, After Members Complain
Here's a good reason to get rid of IP laws and get voter support for it
On the post: State Subsidies To Hollywood: Almost Every Program Has Been A Dismal Failure, Costing Taxpayers
I don't see Texas on the above list
Don't Mess With Taxes: Austin: "Part of the reason, in case you've missed the politicking by our governor who wants to be president, is that Texas works hard to write laws and regulators to make the state appealing to businesses. And one of the ways it does so in the creative arts field is via the state's Film Commission tax incentives. Despite the state office's name, the tax breaks are available not only to traditional television and movie productions, but also video game projects."
On the post: State Subsidies To Hollywood: Almost Every Program Has Been A Dismal Failure, Costing Taxpayers
Cultural programs
Here's what is done in Denver. It's not related to the film industry, but you can see how a tax is used here.
:: Welcome to SCFD: Making It Possible ::: Since 1989, Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) has distributed funds from a 1/10 of 1% sales and use tax to cultural facilities throughout the seven-county Denver, Colorado metropolitan area. The funds support cultural facilities whose primary purpose is to enlighten and entertain the public through the production, presentation, exhibition, advancement and preservation of art, music, theatre, dance, zoology, botany, natural history and cultural history.
On the post: State Subsidies To Hollywood: Almost Every Program Has Been A Dismal Failure, Costing Taxpayers
Re: Re: Re:
I've followed along with the various states providing tax breaks to movies filmed locally.
I think a good case can be made that tax breaks shouldn't be given to ANY business or industry, so I probably wouldn't single out the film industry. Consider corporate welfare across the board instead.
The promotional value of having films made in your city/state is one significant reason why governments do this. If they figure they would be paying the same amount of money to a tourism board or in the form of advertising, they may feel the costs are about the same and that they would rather the money go to film crews rather than media publications and ad agencies.
On the post: Republican Study Committee Dumps Derek Khanna, Author Of Copyright Reform Brief, After Members Complain
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Maybe...
Would we need parties at all, then? Or even representatives? Everything could be done with an online vote.
What I'd like to see is some sort of game program so that people could see what would happen with different policy scenarios. I realize this modeling is only as accurate as the model, but the current system (where everyone lobbies for their particular cause without factoring in how to deal with budgetary constraints, policies that act at cross purposes with each other, and so on) seems unable to deal with the complexities of modern life and global interconnectedness.
On the post: Republican Study Committee Dumps Derek Khanna, Author Of Copyright Reform Brief, After Members Complain
Re: Re: Re: Re: Maybe...
Even if you can solve the fundraising issue, you've still got to be in a district where you can be elected. Your politics need to mesh at least somewhat with voters during the primary and then the general election.
On the post: Republican Study Committee Dumps Derek Khanna, Author Of Copyright Reform Brief, After Members Complain
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Maybe...
Thanks.
Yes, copyright is going to get bigger, messier, and involve a lot more industries than entertainment and publishing. Whatever is going to happen in terms of entertainment/publishing is already happening and working itself out in one way or another.
But copyright as it pertains to supply chain issues is going to involve lots of people who think it doesn't involve their jobs or their companies. When that article yesterday said copyright should revert back to charts, maps, and books, I thought, "Yes, sure, that either opens up or doesn't open up a lot of stuff depending on what you mean by 'charts.' Have fun with that."
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