Internet Blackout to oppose SOPA
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Two very good videos from TED.
This one explains what the side effect of SOPA will be. http://www.ted.com/talks/defend_our_freedom_to_share_or_why_sopa_is_a_bad_idea.html
and this one shows how the fashion world thrives and makes money without copyright.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/johanna_blakley_lessons_from_fashion_s_free_culture.html -
I am hearing that this legislation is a bad idea--that there are better ways to handle the problem. That's all I hear. I wonder what some of the better ways to handle this might be? [Personally, I believe no politician will ever provide the ultimate solution, and too much legislation stifles most everything it attempts to regulate]
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The MPAA's thoughts on the matter:
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@escapeartist said:
I must disagree again. Politicians do not get a percentage of taxes as a bonus, so there is no inherent reason for them to view lost taxes as a personal loss should they be reduced or lost.
They do have the "rights" to do this, they were elected to do this and could change the laws as needed to do what they wish. We the people are ignorant of the process due to the complexity of the political system and the difficulty of obtaining clear and concise information about how these events affect us.
They are slaves to the corporate money that pays their campaign financing.
"Politicians do not get a percentage of taxes as a bonus, so there is no inherent reason for them to view lost taxes as a personal loss should they be reduced or lost." and then this follows "They are slaves to the corporate money that pays their campaign financing."
As for the rest, I suggest you to read the constitution. You have some kind of constitution in your country, right?
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Corporate lobby money == taxes paid to the government. They are separate issues.
I fail to see your point referring to the constitution. If you imply that current methods run against the constitution's or our forefather's intent, you may be right; but you must also admit that the constitution came with the ability to be amended, which has happened many times, and therefor the current situation is also legal. like it or not.
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Power in numbers. Looks like a lot of the congress supporters are backing out now. People always want to be on the winning team and we have everyone from EBay to Google opposing this thing. I'm sorry but I do not feel bad that Hollywood lost a few million because someone pirated Legally Blonde 2 (you would have to pay me to watch this) and posted it to the web. Just this weekend alone they grossed over $120 million! http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/. Oh what, someone bootlegged Pokerface and put it on Youtube! Damn that really cut into Lady GagGa's $90million in record sales. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lady-gaga-taylor-swift-forbes-earning-2011-274329
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I would like them (Hollywood and Co.) why I should buy their DVDs that tell me five time repeatedly before the main menu (unskippable) how bad piracy is and how it is a crime - then their unskippable adverts. I paid for the damn film - and now I need to be taught a lesson on piracy in addition to see ads for film already out of date... somewhere the whole idea of customer experience got lost to them. Instead they focus their attention on blaming everyone and everything.
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Twitted yesterday
@unknownuser said:
"Big bipartisan majorities both houses sold out by POTUS for search engines. How about 2.2 m workers in entertainment industry? Piracy rules," Rupert Murdoch
Now that is rich from a guy who profited from phone tapping, lobbying and general mafia style business practices.
Lol, the people voted with their mouses yesterday, over 9 million petitions signed, politicians scampering to be on the right side of this issue, good to see the old entertainment gods getting their asses handed to them by the new ones.
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It ain't over yet though... there are mutations of SOPA coming up...
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Well, when we are at it... Google does not sell educational SU licenses outside the US (and maybe Canada). True that some "international" (as "non-US" is generally called
) resellers do but there are countries where there are no resellers.Now these students (usually way poorer than any US student) have to buy the full version - or use pirated versions if they cannot afford...
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They complain that overseas sites are selling/giving away pirate downloads, yet the US entertainment industry is reluctant to offer legal ways to download their stuff overseas.
It just doesn't make sense. I want to give them my money, but they refuse it!
Brain... exploding...If it's really a matter of stop losing money and protecting "workers' pension and healthcare plans, and healthy local economies and tax revenues", they would be going out of their way to find ways to sell their stuff in every market and medium possible.
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BTW Pete: you will love this:
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I just SO damn weary of liberal people trashing Fox News, just because they air conservative viewpoints (along with liberal viewpoints.)
As if conservatives do not deserve to enjoy the freedom of speech, that they think only liberals should enjoy.
It is WAY more scary that Juan Williams (a liberal,) was fired from NPR, because a something he said, that the far left liberals (controlling NPR,) did not like !!
.. And WHO immediately hired the liberal, Juan Williams ??
Fox News, in fact.
Liberals, where was your freedom of speech loving support for Juan Williams' freedom, when he needed it ??
(And do not say "He's better off. He making much more money now." That ignores the issue.)
Either EVERYONE enjoys freedom, or the term is just a farce. -
Returning to topic:
When you guys call your congressmen, make sure to say you're against piracy and in favor of artists being paid for their work. Tell them that you have a better idea to generate more money for artists: Stop geographic restrictions for selling music and movie downloads. Law-abiding citizens everywhere in the world will have no excuse to resort to piracy. Everybody wins.
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@unknownuser said:
Stop geographic restrictions for selling music and movie downloads
That would only work if there were simultaneous release and broadcast dates for all films and TV programmes. If however you are trying to watch/purchase/download something that has already been released in your region (or never will) then I agree that geographic restrictions should be lifted.
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On a more positive note:
Apple deserves an applause. A few weeks ago they managed to get most mainstream movies and music available to my country via iTunes. I hope Amazon will follow suit with DRM-free downloads available here, as I don't like my stuff being attached to one particular brand of devices. Until that happens, I'm collecting Blu-rays bought on Amazon and on the only chain store that carries legal, original Blu-rays in this city.
NetFlix also started operations in Latin America back in September, but they still have mostly indie movies, with few mainstream ones.
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Sometimes those Indie movies are better than the big blockbuster stuff, take this for example:
The Man from Earth (2007) ⭐ 7.8 | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
The Man from Earth: Directed by Richard Schenkman. With David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, John Billingsley, Ellen Crawford. An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.
IMDb (www.imdb.com)
Absolutely amazing.
Also available on Netflix: http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_Man_from_Earth/70076096?trkid=2361637&fcld=true
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