My suggestion to you is to look at my link to "Follow the Money"
Money should be regulated, not accepted as people believe.
When the Watergate scandal broke, it was in regards to corruption at the highest levels (Nixon).
Money truly corrupts when it changes our politics. I have a very strong suspicion that Obama is using his political office to appease Hollywood in various ways.
This is the result of Lewis Powell's memo in the 70s and considering how the US fought to keep corporations in check, I believe wholeheartedly that giving them free speech rights leads to a fascist government, not more democracy.
If anyone truly wants to follow campaign finance, you should check out Andy Kroll's article Follow the Dark Money
While it doesn't get into all of the nitty gritty of donations (Watergate is far larger than I'm sure Kroll knew) the fact of the matter is that we've needed a number of laws since the 1974 Bucky v Valeo decision that decimated our public financing decision. I'm sure that there will be a lot of people that can consider themselves liberal or conservatives, but when you look at what people have gone through to fight for what people consider reasonable, you can see that campaign finance law is a fight for control of a message.
So now this reminds me of the breakins at Watergate and the Chilean embassy. Should we call this FBIgate now? Are they going to punish these kids for making them look foolish like Daniel Ellsberg made Nixon look foolish when he published the Pentagon Papers?
What we haven't done in the US is take away the policies of Reagan (his director William Bennett in particular) that have changed the schools at their very core. As I've read, schools have unfortunately been decimated by pushing for vocational studies over other occupations. Gone are the need for the liberal arts. More people are pushed into business management degrees or degrees where they can be good for the private sector. But schools are no longer the major place for advanced teaching here in the US. Further, teachers are not paid well. This is a huge problem.
What the US should be doing is taking examples from the best educational systems but this can't happen because education is essentially becoming partisan. Here in the US, we have a number of schools being pushed into privatization. This means that the students are given vouchers instead of a public education system. IIRC, Indiana and Louisiana have these systems and they are either middle of the road or horribly inadequate with missing books for education or horribly inaccurate data.
So our options in education are pretty clear. We should be working to push public education over privatization, see what works in other countries and implement those ideas and push for better teaching conditions so that our teachers can actively do their jobs.
Re: Conservatives lack the ability to turn shit off
The "Republican" party aren't conservatives. They're regressives. They want to take us to the 1950s with their budget plan and a push for a tax on the poorest. Their push for voter suppression is horrendous. This is what or politics has come to. It's sad. You can't even hear about technology issues on tv because the social issues have taken over.
And just that look is a view of the world that doesn't square with a party interested in the Constitution and the 21st century. We have an American Taliban that wants to implement their own Sharia law through the use of ad homs and rhetoric akin to the BS we see in the copyright wars.
Expect to see a massive shift in politics soon. But let's hope that we can leave the current Republican Party back to the 18th century.
That isn't accurate. The doujinshi market is comprised of amateur artists of all types. Usually some artists take an apprenticeship with a much more renowned artist to build up their resume. Some artists you may know are Oda of One Piece who began with Rurouni Kenshin. I recall that the maker of Air Gear started in doujinshi. What isn't being talked about is how popular self publishing is in Japan. While Japan is heavily regulated, no one is really consuming now because of their recession since 1995.
Sadly, it will take time for Japan to recognize how the digital world had changed the regular world. I'm excited for what the future holds but it will there will be an interesting time ahead.
Maybe I'm more interested in the business side for my own good, but I would love to hear about how you created this into a full time job. I do have to congratulate a person that has a very successful community that was built up over time.
Here's to another 15 years from you Mike with great reporting. :)
Mike, I think it's time to recognize that you're doing this wrong. You have been fighting for authors and artists and I'm sure they appreciate it. But this lie that artists and authors have to stop. So here is how we can do this:
Let's stop and ask one simple question of every poster child of why copyright does not work. Every CEO, executive, financial officer and publisher who wants to crush a developer...
What have you done?
That should be the first question out of every article from now on. The artists have routed around the gatekeepers. The authors are ignoring the medalists and we, the people, are seeing the violent corporate reaction of the people at the to who don't get it.
The never created one iota of culture, merely did their best to keep it to themselves. These nameless CEOs have done away with the rule of law to make people out to be criminals. And for what? For everyone that doesn't give them money, we must be stealing? Show me what these people have done. Show me what these executives have created and tried to monetize. Show me how these people bust their ass making millions that artists will never see on shows that rely on artists and authors creating stories that their fans enjoy. Hell, show me a financial statement that says they give ten percent of their earnings to the development team that does all the work. But don't tell me that these people in rich suits have the right to come before an artist and say how their work should benefit the one highest on the totem pole.
I disagree. The problem with US education comes from how we've changed our schools and curriculum from what worked in the 60s and 70s. Education became less about teaching and more about a systematic attack on higher education. I believe the statistic is 50% of those with degrees in education have little to no healthcare, and teach as a last resort. The entire process is slowly becoming privatized with students being unable to find jobs to pay off their debt. The vibrant communities that flourished under those foregone eras have been replaced by communities of felons, the underprivileged, and destitute. Apprenticeships won't help by themselves. Increased taxation, better schools, more vocational studies, an improved public sector, and less
student debt will help.
The saddest thing is that I don't doubt that the people of the US are inherently good. I just wish or government truly reflected it's people's positions.
Simple: Change Congress to represent the people's interest, not corporate interests. The Tea Party promoted a lot of obstruction to bills to help people who weren't rich out their donors. Vote them out. Get involved in local politics and get your viewpoint heard. Stop looking for a savior in Obama or Romney and find a constituent that represents you interests and get on board. Voting never had been a spectator sport. Tag, you're it.
Media consolidation is a grave concern. I'm surprised that with all of their chances to influence the public the MPAA hasn't done so like it did with the SOPA debates.
Here's an idea though... If the industries want to lock up people for violating copyright law...
Why don't we start with them?
False claims of copyright?
Massive destruction of culture?
Affecting trade policies?
Effective monopolies?
Bribery?
Extortion?
What haven't we seen from these trade industries that indicate old fashioned mercantilism similar to what the Founding Fathers were fighting against when they created the Boston Tea Party?
Is it possible that Amaxon is worried about the lawsuit against the book publishers and trying to negotiate a settlement that might involve the Big Six? I can only think that perhaps the book publishers have leverage here that Amazon doesn't want to test out right now.
So it makes sense that they want to destroy the tapes and cover up any evidence that MPAA officials were involved in the raid. We already have a list. And NZ has the iiNet scandal to look forward to negotiating. Is it a large stretch that an MPAA official possibly was on scene just in the shadows?
Or could it be that the police are just covering their own tracks when they knew they screwed up?
On the post: Massachusetts Senate Race Still Steers Clear Of SuperPAC Interference (Mostly)
Re: Re: Re: I don't get it
Money should be regulated, not accepted as people believe.
When the Watergate scandal broke, it was in regards to corruption at the highest levels (Nixon).
Money truly corrupts when it changes our politics. I have a very strong suspicion that Obama is using his political office to appease Hollywood in various ways.
This is the result of Lewis Powell's memo in the 70s and considering how the US fought to keep corporations in check, I believe wholeheartedly that giving them free speech rights leads to a fascist government, not more democracy.
On the post: Massachusetts Senate Race Still Steers Clear Of SuperPAC Interference (Mostly)
Re: I don't get it
On the post: Massachusetts Senate Race Still Steers Clear Of SuperPAC Interference (Mostly)
Campaign finance
While it doesn't get into all of the nitty gritty of donations (Watergate is far larger than I'm sure Kroll knew) the fact of the matter is that we've needed a number of laws since the 1974 Bucky v Valeo decision that decimated our public financing decision. I'm sure that there will be a lot of people that can consider themselves liberal or conservatives, but when you look at what people have gone through to fight for what people consider reasonable, you can see that campaign finance law is a fight for control of a message.
On the post: FBI Denies That Hacked Apple Info Came From FBI
Nixon would be proud...
On the post: Some Thoughts On An Innovation Agenda
Re: Financial Education
What the US should be doing is taking examples from the best educational systems but this can't happen because education is essentially becoming partisan. Here in the US, we have a number of schools being pushed into privatization. This means that the students are given vouchers instead of a public education system. IIRC, Indiana and Louisiana have these systems and they are either middle of the road or horribly inadequate with missing books for education or horribly inaccurate data.
So our options in education are pretty clear. We should be working to push public education over privatization, see what works in other countries and implement those ideas and push for better teaching conditions so that our teachers can actively do their jobs.
On the post: President Obama Does Reddit AMA; Gives Weak Politician's Answer About Internet Freedom
Re:
Or Jill Stein who is quite progressive but has no shot in hell.
Or vote Rocky Anderson who's great but STILL can't take away 270 to win without a mad blitz of cash.
*sigh*
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
Re: Conservatives lack the ability to turn shit off
And just that look is a view of the world that doesn't square with a party interested in the Constitution and the 21st century. We have an American Taliban that wants to implement their own Sharia law through the use of ad homs and rhetoric akin to the BS we see in the copyright wars.
Expect to see a massive shift in politics soon. But let's hope that we can leave the current Republican Party back to the 18th century.
On the post: Award-Winning Manga Author Opens Up His Work To Be Used By 'Anyone, Anywhere, For Anything,' Royalty-Free
Re: Re:
Sadly, it will take time for Japan to recognize how the digital world had changed the regular world. I'm excited for what the future holds but it will there will be an interesting time ahead.
On the post: Fifteen Years Ago Today, Techdirt Was Born
Interesting
Here's to another 15 years from you Mike with great reporting. :)
On the post: Australian Media Exec Uses Dickens & Shakespeare -- Who Both Thrived Without Copyright -- To Explain Why We Need More Copyright
Re: Doing it wrong
Damn phone...
On the post: Australian Media Exec Uses Dickens & Shakespeare -- Who Both Thrived Without Copyright -- To Explain Why We Need More Copyright
Doing it wrong
Let's stop and ask one simple question of every poster child of why copyright does not work. Every CEO, executive, financial officer and publisher who wants to crush a developer...
What have you done?
That should be the first question out of every article from now on. The artists have routed around the gatekeepers. The authors are ignoring the medalists and we, the people, are seeing the violent corporate reaction of the people at the to who don't get it.
The never created one iota of culture, merely did their best to keep it to themselves. These nameless CEOs have done away with the rule of law to make people out to be criminals. And for what? For everyone that doesn't give them money, we must be stealing? Show me what these people have done. Show me what these executives have created and tried to monetize. Show me how these people bust their ass making millions that artists will never see on shows that rely on artists and authors creating stories that their fans enjoy. Hell, show me a financial statement that says they give ten percent of their earnings to the development team that does all the work. But don't tell me that these people in rich suits have the right to come before an artist and say how their work should benefit the one highest on the totem pole.
On the post: Emory University's Dishonest Data Reminds Us That Ethics Don't Come From A 'Policy'
Re: Re:
student debt will help.
On the post: Horrifying: Surfthechannel Criminal Conviction Driven By Hollywood Money -- Not The Government
On the post: Russia Confirms To The World That It's Not A Fan Of Free Speech: Pussy Riot Gets Two Years In Jail
Re:
On the post: US, UK Betray Basic Values To Get Assange At Any Cost
Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Is Being Rich And Arrogant Against The Law? The RIAA & MPAA Seem To Think So
Re:
Here's an idea though... If the industries want to lock up people for violating copyright law...
Why don't we start with them?
False claims of copyright?
Massive destruction of culture?
Affecting trade policies?
Effective monopolies?
Bribery?
Extortion?
What haven't we seen from these trade industries that indicate old fashioned mercantilism similar to what the Founding Fathers were fighting against when they created the Boston Tea Party?
On the post: Amazon Stops Processing Payments For Crowdfunding Platform For Creative Commons Books
On the post: Video Of Dotcom Raid Revealed, As NZ Police Admit It Was 'Over The Top'
Re: Re: Re: Re: Words Fail
On the post: Even The Sex At The Olympics Is Sponsored
Re: Sex in the Olympics…
On the post: Why Are New Zealand Prosecutors Seeking To Suppress All Images & Video Of Megaupload Raid?
Re:
Wouldn't it make sense that there would be an MPAA rep similar to how the RIAA is in raids on CDs?
So it makes sense that they want to destroy the tapes and cover up any evidence that MPAA officials were involved in the raid. We already have a list. And NZ has the iiNet scandal to look forward to negotiating. Is it a large stretch that an MPAA official possibly was on scene just in the shadows?
Or could it be that the police are just covering their own tracks when they knew they screwed up?
Next >>