The "Official" comment thread for the WF SOPA blackout

Ken, Wait... We think the current proposal is overboard, so we don't really want anything to be done about the problem? Exactly how do you get from A to B in that thought process?

This is a complicated problem, or there wouldn't be any discussion in the Congress about how to solve it. The obvious solution is to shut down the sites that knowingly allow or actively promote piracy. The devil is, as always, in the details.

The primary problem is with the copyright regimes in certain countries which make them hospitable hosts to pirate sites. Most notably, India, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, Iran, and Russia. Turkey and the Netherlands aren't all that helpful in such matters, but they're not the worst.

With the exception if Iran, all of those countries are signatories to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.

(Hong Kong is not listed as a signatory nation, but being under the governance of China one assumes it is a part of the established union.)

What we really need to do is get these countries to enforce their obligations under the treaty. Nonsense question. The blackouts were not intended to do anything to stop piracy. They were intended to help prevent the passage of legislation that would severely damage the Internet, and the use of same by individuals and businesses around the world.

That seems a rather obvious difference, to me.


Paul

PS: Yes, I have read the legislation. My primary concern is in the definitions beginning at section 103(a)(1)(B) and continuing to the start of 103(a)(2). The whole bill is a disaster, but that's where the vagueness I've mentioned resides.

Edit: Rob subsequent to this post amended his post by stating that he did not mean free as in piracy but the paid netflix service so the response below was not to his actual position but to the idea of watching movies totally free.

I guarantee you that its that mentality that WILL result in the laws like SOPA being passed if theres not a mental turn around. Lets extend the logic

Why pay ever increasing prices for a WSO? hijack em
Why buy a text book for school? Copy em
why pay for any software? crackem

You the copyright owner sets your price but if I don't agree with your price (and that my friend is a SLIDING scale totally dependent on who is doing the agreeing) then I get to take what I want for free.

This has nothing to do with technology causing a revolution that allow more people to create content cheaper or faster. The guy that is writing the book has no technology that ends his need to eat, no technology that gives him a free house or a paid off mortgage, none that ends his need to clothe his children.

The caricature that is used to defend not going after copyright violation is classic class warfare philosophy that the only ones getting hurt are the rich guys so who cares? They should suck it up. Only problem is that the textbook author ain't rich, the band with a new sound that have children and can't get to tour all over to make ends meet isn't rich and the guy doing the WSO may just have some medical bills he needs to get paid.

Easier to think its only fat cats that get hurt.

By the way have you ever considered that your not wanting to pay the ever increasing prices at the box office is what forces the prices higher not lower? Its part of the equation. And if we all do that then how does the next sequel/movie get made? and if not all then how much more higher will I have to pay to supplement the next guys being entertained for free? and what happens when the higher prices force those of us willing to pay to join the free watchers? Right back to the question of how the next movie gets made

Bottom line is sooner or later a society or group that encourages or winks at Copyright violation hurts itself because they create a marketplace that turns away the creative person from considering their creativity a viable business. Textbooks that would have been written have authors abandon the idea. Singers and songwriters that would have come up with new sounds buckle into family pressure that tells them they will never make it (because they can't with people ripping left and right) and movies that are not written with the same color by numbers plots and endings don't get made because the margins are just too thin when you take bootlegs and streaming into account.

Thankfully we are not seeing as much of that right now but if the group within our Internet generation that thinks that everything on their screens should be free takes hold as the majority there won't be enough people left to supplement the free watchers for the content to even be made to begin with.

New technology can cut out many of the middlemen from various businesses. We see it as this or that industry's problem - but I think it's much bigger. It's not only entertainment - it's major manufacturers selling directly through their websites. Better prices because direct sales eliminates several levels of distribution (which all add to the cost).

There's a movement to a people-to-people product exchange and that threatens a lot of rich people who make money from talented people. It's a good move - but a rocky road. Never mind that many businesses have overloaded the management sector at the expense of the artists and authors and musicians that are the core of the business.

None of the artists I am talking about will get huge record deals/advances. In the past, the music was the product but now its more of a tool to sell other items.

Remember, I am not talking about the Gagas or Biebers. I am talking about true Indie artist who will make just as much on their own w/ touring and merch than a record deal would pay them.

The days of needing a record deal are over.