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2012-01-23 Home Front: Politix

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Posted by crosspatch 2012-01-23 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11130 views ] Top

#1 Ah, Chris Dodd, what a piece of work that slime ball is. Now, when he is no longer a congress critter, he reveals his true colors. Pretty much a waste of powder and shot to deal with this load.

Posted by Past Master of the Obvious 2012-01-23 00:11|| 2012-01-23 00:11|| Front Page Top

#2 another version of this is at hollywoodreporter.com.

Its important to remember that Dodd is currently the Chief of the Motion Picture Association of America. The chief sponsor of SOPA (the house bill) was John Conyers (D-MI). The chief sponsor of PIPA (the Senate bill) was Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Posted by Lord Garth 2012-01-23 00:47|| 2012-01-23 00:47|| Front Page Top

#3 Former Sen. Chris Dodd on Fox News (1-19-2010) threatened to cut off campaign funds to President Obama's re-election campaign over anti-piracy legislation.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/19/exclusive-hollywood-lobbyist-threatens-to-cut-off-obama-2012-money-over-anti/

Some one more proficient than myself with the proper proceedure for posting an article really needs to put it up here.

Posted by oldiron 2012-01-23 02:27|| 2012-01-23 02:27|| Front Page Top

#4 Here's oldiron's link.

oldiron: Just put down some text that sounds descriptive, like "this is my link" (no quotes necessary!), highlight that same text, then click the symbol that looks like a blue circle with a chain link along the bottom, and drop the link address in the popup. Click OK and it should work. Use the "Preview" button to make sure it looks and works as intended, of course, or your next post will go something like "PIMF".

Posted by gorb 2012-01-23 02:47|| 2012-01-23 02:47|| Front Page Top

#5 gorb: Thanks you for the tutorial. I am aware of that wrongHaven thing and just want be sure anything I post is within the accepted boundries.

Thank you also for your unique insight and all the enjoyable content you have contributed over the years.

Posted by oldiron 2012-01-23 06:18|| 2012-01-23 06:18|| Front Page Top

#6 gorb, the link instructions don't work for all computers & browsers - I know they don't work on either of the computers I use. It all looks right, but the link vanishes when posted.

Posted by Glenmore 2012-01-23 07:41|| 2012-01-23 07:41|| Front Page Top

#7 Been an open secret for years. Why else did Clinton and Obama hold all those Hollywood parties in the White House? The dhimmocrats and Hollywood are joined at the hip. Hollywood bribes them to keep tax exempt status and Hollywood spews out liberal propaganda in return.

Posted by DarthVader 2012-01-23 11:07|| 2012-01-23 11:07|| Front Page Top

#8 The dhimmocrats and Hollywood are joined at the hip.

Indeed. In fact California through a process of in migration both legal and otherwise has become so reliable for donk presidential candidates that they don't even bother to campaign here. However, they do visit certain of their friends in Hollywood and San Francisco for the purpose of accepting lucre.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2012-01-23 11:39|| 2012-01-23 11:39|| Front Page Top

#9 If anything like SOPA or PIPA should ever come between them it would be highly amusing.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2012-01-23 11:39|| 2012-01-23 11:39|| Front Page Top

#10 That said, however, I have some sympathy for Hollywood types who want to protect their intellectual property. The tech people should understand because computer programs are also considered intellectual property and software piracy is a real crime. If you invest a considerable amount of time, effort and money to produce a movie, book or computer program you want to profit from your investment. The people who operate pirate websites where copyrighted content can be downloaded without compensation to the creators are thieves and they should be punished.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2012-01-23 12:11|| 2012-01-23 12:11|| Front Page Top

#11 The people who operate pirate websites where copyrighted content can be downloaded without compensation to the creators are thieves and they should be punished.

Then perhaps some sort of reasonable legislation should be enacted. What we've been seeing is, to quote Steve Martin, "mandatory execution for parking violations".

Posted by Pappy 2012-01-23 12:28|| 2012-01-23 12:28|| Front Page Top

#12 EU,

I agree up to a point. The problem is that the copyright system is broken. People shouldn't be able to keep a copyright forever passing it on to heirs.

My wife "benefits" from a couple of copyrights on music written by her grandparents 75 years ago. Granted the royalties are trivial due to the lack of popularity of '30s pop songs, but still....

Same thing with patents. When is enough enough?

Posted by AlanC 2012-01-23 12:31|| 2012-01-23 12:31|| Front Page Top

#13 I agree Ebbang - however they are blaming declining revenue on 'piracy' when piracy takes a very small chunk out of their revenue (IMHO). the real reason is a sucky product and changing infrastructure.

Plus the world as moved on to more interactive activities than old dull movies to (Facebook, Google+, online games, etc...) and self-produced videos (Youtube and it's clones).

In short their client base is moving away from old dull movies (that usually suck rocks) to more interactive and interesting pastimes which are now available on the net.

Make no mistake - the real target of SOPA and the rest is not piracy but to close down the alternate activities which people are now starting to engage in rather than the hollywood entertainment industry.

Posted by CrazyFool 2012-01-23 12:35|| 2012-01-23 12:35|| Front Page Top

#14 I didn't say SOPA is reasonable. I must confess I'm not familiar with it's details. I don't know how the government should go after Internet pirates in foreign countries although I might suggest they should be shot like the ocean going pirates of Somalia. It's kind of a brave new world when books, music, and movies can be converted into files on a computer and it's no surprise that all the so called geniuses in Washington are unable to come up with a reasonable legal approach to it. All I said is I have some sympathy for people who want to protect copyrighted intellectual property from theft. But they certainly don't help their cause by hiring sleazebags like Chris Dodd.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2012-01-23 13:32|| 2012-01-23 13:32|| Front Page Top

#15 CF,
"the real target of SOPA and the rest is not piracy but to close down the alternate activities which people are now starting to engage in ..."

Not to mention the alternate political activities that are disquieting to the elite. They like control of all the propaganda pipelines in "entertainment". After all MPAA didn't hire Dodd for his good looks or reputation for honesty.

Posted by AlanC 2012-01-23 13:33|| 2012-01-23 13:33|| Front Page Top

#16 The people who operate pirate websites where copyrighted content can be downloaded without compensation to the creators are thieves and they should be punished.
TO HELL WITH THAT. The US has much bigger issues that need to be acted on, HUGE crimes that cry out to be punished, and laws that have been in effect for decades that Eric Holder and his henchmen refuse to act on.
Just because a gang of rent-seekers and power-grabbers say something "should be punished" does not mean the rest of US have to be sucked into their nefarious schemes. As a Norwegian bachelor farmer might say: "Tellwiddum"

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2012-01-23 13:49|| 2012-01-23 13:49|| Front Page Top

#17 SOPA or PIPA never really seemed like a law to protect the intellectual property of Hollyweird so much as more the exertion of more control by a intrusive and growing Washington bureaucracy. These folks won't be happy until they strangle freedom from everyone of us. If it were about piracy there are plenty of laws already on the books that make piracy of intellectual property a crime. Does anyone think that Washington is going to pass a law that affects China in any way. They are one of the greatest offenders of piracy. They hack there way into sites and have films before they are released here. They are the ones who are most guilty of stealing our intellectual property. Don't *&^$ with the American people, go after China.

Posted by JohnQC 2012-01-23 15:12|| 2012-01-23 15:12|| Front Page Top

#18 Laws only work as long as people respect them. The model is the old 55 mph speed limit. Back in the 70s there was an oil embargo which prompted the national government to 'direct' states to set the limit upon loss of highway funds. It was made so. Then the embargo ended. Many years passed. Who really drove 55? It became more a tool to issue tickets/tax than what it was originally intended for. Finally, the movement got going to return to the pre-embargo standards. Then the 'safety' people decried the repeal saying it should stay in place. It was never justified in the first place as a 'safety' measure. The nanny elitists/oligarchs tried their best to impose their power. That time they failed because people finally got feed up with the game.

Now originally copyright was intended to protect the intellectual property of its creator for around thirty years. The Founders despised the old Royal Patents that where inherited by families over generations. They set a limit. All was to eventually go into public domain. However the Founders never anticipated megacorporations with a similar lust for unending revenue and their ability to buy Congress to destroy that principle. "The Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) of 1998 extended copyright terms in the United States by 20 years. Since the Copyright Act of 1976, copyright would last for the life of the author plus 50 years, or 75 years for a work of corporate authorship. The Act extended these terms to life of the author plus 70 years and for works of corporate authorship to 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever endpoint is earlier.[1] Copyright protection for works published prior to January 1, 1978, was increased by 20 years to a total of 95 years from their publication date." - wiki

The Royal Patents are back. Just like the old 55 mph speed limit, the government has overplayed it hand and the people adjust their behavior accordingly. Hollyweird is the real 1 percent.

Posted by Procopius2k 2012-01-23 15:52|| 2012-01-23 15:52|| Front Page Top

#19 So maybe we should block all Internet traffic from China? I'd go for that. But our government will never do it. Can you imagine the squealing from all the computer retailers in this country when the ChiComs cut them off? Can you say trade war? Sure you can.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2012-01-23 15:54|| 2012-01-23 15:54|| Front Page Top

#20 @13: notice that in a Star Trek universe, no one watches movies. They go to the holodeck because it's interactive (particularly if you load the Firengi pr0n package).

People have different expectations for entertainment today. We didn't go to movies in 1850, we did in 1950, and whether we do or not in 2050 I don't know. But the Hollywood folks had better have a plan B in case we don't...

Posted by Steve White 2012-01-23 16:12|| 2012-01-23 16:12|| Front Page Top

#21 heh. Dr. Steve - check your email

Posted by Frank G 2012-01-23 17:33|| 2012-01-23 17:33|| Front Page Top

#22 I agree that copyright holders deserve to be compensated for their work. I have a strict rule with my kids to not download copyrighted material without paying for it. My iTunes bill backs this up.

My problem with SOPA and PIPA is the effect they would have on political speech. What was Righthaven really trying to accomplish? Political speech is constitutionally protected. The courts have struck a balance between free speech and copyright. I am very suspicious when I see Congress trying to alter that balance. George Orwell's 1984 is a chilling reminder of where we can end up if freedom of political speech is lost.

Posted by Mike Ramsey 2012-01-23 17:44|| 2012-01-23 17:44|| Front Page Top

#23 "The dhimmocrats and Hollywood are joined at the hip."

Welllll, somewhere in that general latitude, anyway....

Posted by Barbara 2012-01-23 19:04|| 2012-01-23 19:04|| Front Page Top

#24 "The dhimmocrats and Hollywood are joined at the hip."

Welllll, somewhere in that general latitude, anyway....

Just think of them as The Human Centipede.

Posted by charger 2012-01-23 20:44|| 2012-01-23 20:44|| Front Page Top

#25 procopius2k - I 'pirated' your post (Royal patents) and reposted elsewhere. Hope you don't mind. It was the best-expressed arguement I've seen.

Posted by Glenmore 2012-01-23 22:23|| 2012-01-23 22:23|| Front Page Top

#26 I see Obama's predicament with the media the same as his predicament with the greenies. He took big money and then didn't produce for his handlers. He's ran out of time and now his only alternative is to take blatent and drastic measures to force through media legislation the same as he must force a rise in the price of oil to keep green energy viable.

I think the music and film industry would give their left (whatever) to take down U-Tube.

Posted by junkiron 2012-01-23 23:40|| 2012-01-23 23:40|| Front Page Top

#27 Welllll, somewhere in that general latitude, anyway....

Gee thanks - that's an image...

Posted by CrazyFool 2012-01-23 23:41|| 2012-01-23 23:41|| Front Page Top

23:59 gorb
23:53 gorb
23:41 CrazyFool
23:40 junkiron
23:15 Twobyfour
23:10 junkiron
23:09 Pappy
22:58 JosephMendiola
22:56 SteveS
22:44 JosephMendiola
22:23 Glenmore
22:14 Frank G
22:12 USN, Ret.
22:07 USN, Ret.
22:01 USN, Ret.
21:57 Frank G
21:57 USN, Ret.
21:57 Glenmore
21:35 tu3031
21:32 trailing wife
21:29 trailing wife
21:21 OldSpook
21:16 OldSpook
21:15 Mullah Richard