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THE SOPA VICTORY DANCE IS PREMATURE
As you may have heard, SOPA is now history. Lamar Smith – who swore there was no way he was letting this drop – is letting it drop.
For now, anyway. He’s still bent on coming up with a bill that clamps down on foreign people stealing American TV shows.
Two thoughts from me:
1. I fully expect the next bill (and there will be one) to be almost as bad as SOPA/PIPA, because these bills tend to be written for the same Big Media lobbyists who wanted SOPA/PIPA in the first place.
2. The next big debate over this needs to make it clear that piracy is not as big a problem as the MPAA/RIAA et al make it out to be.
And so I’m going to hand over to Tim O’Reilly, who makes some really good points about this:
The problem, of course, is that independent experts don’t have money. Or at least not the kind of money that lobbyists have, to say nothing of a lucrative revolving door relationship with Congress.
And for more on that, I suggest you consult with Lawrence Lessig to better understand the full scope of the problem.
Hint: it's dire.
Money talks,
This is dF
For now, anyway. He’s still bent on coming up with a bill that clamps down on foreign people stealing American TV shows.
Two thoughts from me:
1. I fully expect the next bill (and there will be one) to be almost as bad as SOPA/PIPA, because these bills tend to be written for the same Big Media lobbyists who wanted SOPA/PIPA in the first place.
2. The next big debate over this needs to make it clear that piracy is not as big a problem as the MPAA/RIAA et al make it out to be.
And so I’m going to hand over to Tim O’Reilly, who makes some really good points about this:
My point is that when evaluating the request for legislation like SOPA, Congress ought to be considering factors like:
* The credibility of those making claims. The motion picture industry has a history of opposing every new technology, even those that proved ultimately to grow the market. (MPAA head Jack Valenti's claim that the VCR was the equivalent of letting "Jack the Ripper" into your home is the most famous example.)
* The lack of independently verified quantitative evidence that there has been actual harm to the movie business (and other copyright businesses). My conversation with Representative Pelosi focused on my experience as a publisher at O'Reilly, in which losses to piracy are far outweighed by the growth of the market. Far from being hurt by piracy, internet distribution of DRM-free ebooks is the brightest spot in my business, a key driver of growth.
[…]
This isn't a matter of simply weighing the concerns of one set of lobbyists against those of another, but using a standard of care and independent judgment about what is best for our society.
If Congress isn't knowledgeable enough to make that determination, they need to be consulting independent experts, not lobbyists for one side or the other.
* The credibility of those making claims. The motion picture industry has a history of opposing every new technology, even those that proved ultimately to grow the market. (MPAA head Jack Valenti's claim that the VCR was the equivalent of letting "Jack the Ripper" into your home is the most famous example.)
* The lack of independently verified quantitative evidence that there has been actual harm to the movie business (and other copyright businesses). My conversation with Representative Pelosi focused on my experience as a publisher at O'Reilly, in which losses to piracy are far outweighed by the growth of the market. Far from being hurt by piracy, internet distribution of DRM-free ebooks is the brightest spot in my business, a key driver of growth.
[…]
This isn't a matter of simply weighing the concerns of one set of lobbyists against those of another, but using a standard of care and independent judgment about what is best for our society.
If Congress isn't knowledgeable enough to make that determination, they need to be consulting independent experts, not lobbyists for one side or the other.
The problem, of course, is that independent experts don’t have money. Or at least not the kind of money that lobbyists have, to say nothing of a lucrative revolving door relationship with Congress.
And for more on that, I suggest you consult with Lawrence Lessig to better understand the full scope of the problem.
Hint: it's dire.
Money talks,
This is dF